The MCE for the Bolgatanga Municipality Rex Asanga has justified the presence of the personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Military at the grain section of the new market yesterday January 4, 2022.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, Mr. Asanga said the Assembly had picked information that the traders at the grains market in the new market were planning the Assembly’s directive for them to vacate the place.
He said the insistence on the move was necessary to decongest the area and allow for free flow of traffic. The MCE explained that enough consultations had gone into relocating the traders and so he was surprised that they still refused to move.
“When we agreed for them to move, they refused to move and the few policemen who were on hand they [the traders] overwhelmed them and they did not move. This time we had given them this deadline to move and that was the reason why we had to send the security people to go and ensure that at least no grain is sold in the new market,” he explained.
“We have met the leadership several times to the extent that the Regional Police Commander intervened and brought us together at his office. They laid their case, and we laid our case and the Regional Commander thought that they did not have a case,” he continued to say.
It will be recalled that yesterday, January 4, 2022, 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.
The grain traders at the new Bolgatanga Central Market have expressed worry over the Assembly’s Directive which seeks to move them to the Techiman Market in the Old Market area.
When A1 News visited the market to interact with the traders, Madam Talata, not her real name, explained that the said Techiman Market the Assembly they are asking them to relocate to cannot contain the huge number of traders and could reduce their sales and profit margins. “We are only widows making sales through the sale of grains to cater for our children’s education and family upkeep,” she bemoaned.
She further stressed that “where we are seated is not even part of the market, we are at the Daporetindongo Area so we do not understand why we should be affected by this directive and moreover we are not causing any traffic as the Assembly explains.”
A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith |Bolgatanga|Ghana
