Francis Asenso-Boakye (L) with other MPs
The Minority in Parliament has criticised the government’s implementation of the 24-Hour Economy Market programme, accusing it of demolishing existing public and community assets to make way for new markets.
The Minority members on the Local Government and Rural Development Committee, led by the Ranking Member, Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the programme appeared poorly planned and disconnected from the actual development needs of several communities.
Addressing the media yesterday, the Minority said it was not opposed to the construction and modernisation of markets or to markets operating for extended hours where there was genuine economic demand.
However, it questioned the rationale for demolishing functioning or recently completed facilities to construct new markets, particularly at a time when the country was facing severe fiscal constraints.
It cited several examples across the country, including the Asesewa Market in the Upper Manya Krobo area, which it said had been earmarked for demolition to make way for a 24-hour market.
It also alleged that an astroturf under construction at Mamponteng in the Kwabre East Municipality in the Ashanti Region had been demolished for the programme.
In the same region, the Minority said the Nkenkaasu Market in the Offinso North District, constructed and commissioned under former President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2007, had been demolished to make way for a new 24-hour economy market.
It further cited the reported demolition of a community bank facility at Aboabo.
The Minority said a newly constructed school in the Ahafo Ano South West District had also reportedly been earmarked for demolition, with grading and foundation works already taking place within the school premises.
It questioned why a newly constructed educational facility would also be destroyed when many communities continued to require basic educational infrastructure.
In the Upper West Region, the Minority cited the reported demolition of a Magistrate Court in Nandom, while in the Aowin Constituency of the Western North Region, it said the newly constructed Enchi Market, which had not yet been occupied, had been pulled down despite resistance from residents.
It described the situation at Enchi as particularly difficult to justify, questioning why public funds would be used to construct a market only for another government programme to demolish it before it was put to use.
The Minority also mentioned the demolition of the 70-year-old Tendamba Primary School in Wa, as well as homes and shops at Poyentanga, to create space for a proposed 24-hour market.
Other facilities and markets it said had been affected or were at risk included a market in the Agona East District, New Thursday Central Market in Wenchi, Abor Market in the Keta Municipality and commercial structures at the Kasoa New Market.
The Minority said traders at Nungua, Kwabenya, Ashaiman and Kokomba markets had also resisted plans to demolish existing markets, while concerns had been raised over the Aiyinase Main Market in the Ellembelle District.
“These are not isolated concerns,” the Minority said, arguing that the developments pointed to a pattern in which existing markets, newly constructed facilities, schools, businesses, homes and other community assets were being displaced in the name of the programme.
It said the government must explain the economic justification for destroying useful, and in some cases recently constructed, public assets only to spend additional resources replacing them.
The Minority also questioned whether all the proposed markets would be commercially viable on a 24-hour basis.
It said successful 24-hour markets required sufficient commercial activity, traders willing to operate at night, customers to patronise them, as well as adequate security, transportation, electricity, sanitation and water.
According to the Minority, those conditions differed from one district to another, making it necessary for the programme to be based on local demand rather than a uniform national approach.
It therefore called on the government to undertake an immediate, comprehensive and non-partisan review of the programme and deepen consultation with stakeholders.
The Minority urged the government to make the programme needs-based and demand-driven, with district development plans guiding the selection of projects.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House