Osei Asibey Antwi
Osei Asibey Antwi, the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), has announced the introduction of Operation Calm Life, which would be carried out by a combined team of military and police personnel to tackle armed robberies.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, led by President Akufo-Addo, has reviewed the country’s internal security strategies, with the deployment of the military to support the police to deal with the recent armed robberies on the populace.
The KMA boss assured residents in Kumasi of maximum security, saying personnel of the Operation Calm Life are currently patrolling the metropolis to protect lives and property.
Osei Asibey Antwi said this when he spoke at a meeting organised by the Ashanti Regional Advisory Committee of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) – Northern Sector Branch in Kumasi Friday, 2018, to discuss the challenges facing local industries.
He advised businessmen and women and individuals to be security conscious and avoid carrying huge sums of money on them for business transactions and use cheques.
In reaction to an accusation that KMA has failed to permanently eject street hawkers from the Adum streets, the Mayor admitted that businesses at the business district in Kumasi are collapsing because of excessive congestion caused by illicit street trading and wrongful car parking.
To solve the congestion problem, Osei Asibey Antwi has urged investors to build high-rise car parks in the city.
He wondered why business owners park their cars in front of their shops to deny access to their facilities by the customers.
“The second thing we are committed to doing to address this challenge is the establishment of satellite markets in all communities to reduce the volumes of cars and petty trading at Adum,” he said.
He said, “We cannot build a beautiful country by allowing people to sell on the pavements. KMA has the responsibility to plan for the traders. Consequently, Race Course has been tarred and illuminated. We have asked the traders to relocate permanently to do business there instead of trading on the streets illegally.”
The Mayor said KMA would not relent in its efforts to arrest and prosecute people who litter the city.
A few weeks ago, 11 people were arrested and prosecuted in the court of law for littering. They were made to sweep certain parts of the city daily.
Most offenders are educated people who drive big cars. There is a documentary which shows how most educated working people throw rubbish on the streets while driving to work, he revealed.
From James Quansah, Kumasi