Eviction of Defiant Hawkers Takes Off

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has launched an operation to rid the streets of the capital of hawkers, beggars and lunatics.

Metropolitan Chief Executive, Nii Stanley Adjiri-Blankson, personally led a task force from the AMA to drive away hawkers and beggars from the streets in the business district of Accra.

In an interview with the paper, Nii Adjiri-Blankson said the exercise is an effective means of dealing with the disorder and filth that have engulfed the city.

He explained that six months ago, during a meeting with the leadership of the hawkers, the AMA gave them the option of selling in designated streets at different times in order to ensure free vehicular and human movements in the metropolis.

However,? the hawkers now claim they cannot move their goods around in the manner proposed by the AMA,? he said, and remarked: ?Whether they can or not, we shall see.?

He also took a swipe at sachet water producers who he said were responsible for 80 per cent of the filth generated in the city ?yet, are unyielding in contributing just 17 per cent of the cost of disposing of the waste they create.?

Regarding the roaming lunatics, he stated that he had held a meeting with all Divisional Police Commanders in the Greater Accra region as well as the authorities of the psychiatric hospitals and the Social Welfare Department, on the way to handle them. He restated the AMA?s resolve to enforce its bye-laws.