David Arthur (middle) General Secretary adresing the press as Ben Adams (right) National Chairman looks on
The leadership of the National Artisans and Traders Union of Ghana (NATUG) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has appealed to the government to stop the Ghana Post (GP) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) from ejecting and demolishing their structures at Cable and Wireless land at Bubiashie, a suburb of Accra.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, General Secretary of NATUG, David Arthur, said it has become necessary to call for government’s intervention to stop AMA and GP from rendering its members jobless.
“This is as result of the Ghana Post notice advertised in Daily Graphic of September 4, 2017 with the headline, Removal of Squatters and unauthorized structures on Ghana Post Land at Bubiashie in Accra.”
According to Arthur, NATUG has over 18,000 workers under its umbrella who have been working on the land that GP is claiming ownership for decades.
“Together with our apprentices, it will bring untold hardship to us and our dependents as well, as it will throw us out of business, which in the long run, will worsen the unemployment situation in the country,” he said.
The artisans said they would not vacate the land by the December 1 deadline since they are waiting for the president’s intervention.
He stressed that the union petitioned the president early this year to adopt the industrial village concept and stop the planned demolition.
“The leadership and the entire membership of the Cable and Wireless branch of the union have petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come to our aid by stopping the demolition exercise. We are also pleading with the president use his good offices to help develop the Cable and Wireless land in Bubiashie into industrial village for the informal sector workers.”
“Government should adopt our proposal to turn the land into an industrial village which will be in fulfillment of the One District, One Factory policy, create enough space to absorb more artisans and traders who are scattered all over the city and create jobs for the unemployed,” they stated.
By Emmanuel Kubi