Some of the traders busily selling on walkways and by the roadside around the old market
In spite of the incessant calls by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) on all traders at the Takoradi Market Circle to move to a new market, some of the traders continue to do business around the old market.
The STMA initiated a move to close down the Takoradi main market to all forms of trading activities to pave way for the redevelopment of the old market.
The over 90-year-old Takoradi Market is being redeveloped in fulfilment of a promise made by the current government.
The relocation of the traders to the new market allowed the contractor to commence the redevelopment works.
However, when DAILY GUIDE visited the Takoradi Market Circle yesterday, some market women and other traders were still trading around the old market.
It was revealed that all the streets around the old market and walkways have been taken over by traders, making human and vehicular movements around the area very difficult.
It was also revealed that the activities of the recalcitrant traders are causing nuisance around the redevelopment site.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE in separate interviews, some of the traders asserted that they have not been given shops in the new market so they have no option than to sell on the walkways.
Some of them also asserted that they make more money by selling around the old market than going to sell at the new market since most of their customers reside around the old market.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the STMA, John Laste insists that the traders were not being truthful.
He maintained that a good number of the traders selling on the walkways are refusing to sell in their allocated shops.
He said, “Almost everyone has been given a shop or a shed inside the main areas. But what I have observed is that most of them have moved from their sheds and shops and have come onto the roads to trade.”
He continued, “Some of the traders were arrested and made to pay a fine. However, they continue to sell at the unauthorized places”.
He warned that traders who have come onto the road and walkways to trade even though they have been allocated shops at the new makeshift market will have their shops reallocated.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi