Henry Quartey
One thousand men and women called the ‘City Response Team’, who were trained by the military, have passed out and will commence work today in various parts of Accra to enforce by-laws.
The ‘City Response Team’ will among others also harmonise and augment the operations of all the task forces across the 29 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, who announced this at a media briefing last Thursday in Accra said, though residents and stakeholders in various parts of Accra were engaged and adequately educated on ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage’ among other programmes initiated by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), it still require some personnel to ensure that the by-laws of the assemblies were enforced.
He said “we are glad to announce that 1,000 out of the 3,500 men and women who were trained by the military have successfully passed out and will be in full force from today to ensure a full enforcement of these by-laws. All those who sell on the street should move off the street and go into the market or designated areas agreed upon with the MMDAs.”
The minister reiterated that not only would people found selling on the streets be arrested, but “this time round they would be prosecuted in line with the by-laws of the various assemblies.”
He also said that the restriction of tricycles popularly known as ‘Aboboyaa’ on the motorway is still in force.
He added that violations of those directives by the operators would not only attract a fine but they would be convicted and prosecuted in addition to the payment of fines.
The Regional Minister, who is also the MP for Ayawaso Central Constituency, observed that the recent increase in the operations of ‘Pragya’ in some parts of Accra needed to be controlled in order not to compound the already congested city that is struggling with vehicular movement.
“It has come to our notice that the other bit of tricycle known as ‘Pragya’ is beginning to gain attention in the Greater Accra Region, the Regional Coordinating Council wish to send a strong signal to businesses and operators of this ‘Pragya’ that their operations in the Central Business District (CBD) will not be allowed, that is, in the Accra and Tema metropolis. We will get the MMDA’s to pass by- laws, but until that is done we are restricting their movement,” he stated.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah