Cereal and grain vendors at the new Bolgatanga Central Market have been prevented from selling their wares at their current location at the new market. The traders who used to ply their trade opposite popular hospitality facility, ‘Comme Ci Comme Ca’ were left stranded as a security team made of personnel from the Ghana Police Service and Military patrolled the area.
When A1 Radio visited the site, the traders, visibly disconcerted about the issues were standing by helplessly. The scenes, while not violent attracted lots of people. Residents who were not aware that the traders were being forced out, were taken by surprise when they visited the grain section of the market to purchase their grains and cereals.
Meanwhile, when the News Team got to the Bolgatanga old market where the traders are being asked to relocate to, the market stood virtually empty with just a handful of people available.
It would be recalled that the MCE for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga said steps had been taken to help decongest the Bolgatanga Central Market. Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, the MCE said the inconveniences posed by the citing of the grain market at the entrance of the market could not continue.
The MCE said the Assembly through its Decongestion Taskforce will not relent on its mandate to ensure that residents are able to move in and out of the market freely. He said the initial plan was to ensure that trucks that offload grains in the new market relocate their activities to the old market. He said the Assembly has designated some space in the old market for the activities. If implemented properly, Mr. Asanga hoped the move will reduce the human and vehicular traffic at the new market, particularly on market days.
He said initial attempts to implement the plan proved futile because of fierce resistance from the traders at the new market. Mr. Asanga explained that his insistence on the right thing being done was deliberately misconstrued by some of the traders. To end the continuous misunderstanding, the MCE said the Decongestion Task Force has taken a firm decision to prevent the sale of grains in the new market.
Mr. Asanga said from January 4, 2022, all grain sellers would be moved to the old market, thus now grain sellers would be allowed to conduct business at the new market; a decision he believes is fair to all parties involved.
“Nobody will be allowed to sell millet or maize in the new market so there is no discrimination. So far, we have got cooperation. I want to appeal to our sisters and our mother that if they do not cooperate they will be left behind. Nobody will be able to sell grain in the new market from the 4th of January 2022. They can take it from me,” he said.
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith |Bolgatanga|Ghana
