District Chief Executive for Builsa South, Daniel Kwame Gariba, has disclosed that ground will soon be broken for the construction of a new market to accommodate traders currently conducting brisk business in Fumbisi, the capital of the district and the largest grain market in the Upper East Region.
On market days, the Fumbisi market gets so crowded that there is spillover onto the streets. This means that commuters traveling to and from the Upper West Region or the North East Region are inconvenienced and subjected to undue delays because of the traffic situation.
To help deal with the situation, three years ago during the country’s response to COVID, the Builsa South District Assembly relocated the grain traders to a nearby football field. However, the traders eventually moved back to the main market, citing additional costs due to the move and the fact that they were taken away from the central business district.
The Assembly has not relented in its attempt to decongest the area. In a recent conversation with the DCE for the area, he stated that he had lobbied for the construction of a totally new market.
“I have also lobbied heavily at the top and we will be getting a multi-complex market pretty soon, within this year. Once that is done, stalls will be provided. We will move all these people from the park into the stalls. That will reduce the numbers in the park. They [the traders] are there because they don’t have a place to conveniently conduct their business and we too, because we haven’t provided shelters for them, sometimes find pressuring them to move a bit challenging,” he said.
According to the DCE, the design work has not been completed and as such, it is not yet clear whether the market would be located within the same area or a different one.
Additionally, Mr. Gariba is unable to say when the project will be completed but is confident it will begin before the end of the year.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga|a
