KMA evicts traders at Race Course

Kumasi, Aug 9, GNA - Hundreds of traders were on Tuesday evicted from the Kumasi Race Course by the Metropolitan Assembly to make for the "Sun-City Project."

The project, an initiative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is to be undertaken by Kenbert Group of Companies, a Ghana-South Africa Consortium.

The KMA Task Force, backed by armed military and police officers, used bulldozers to pull down erected structures as some of the traders wept uncontrollably. The exercise to completely clear the place of all trading activities a= s well as illegal squatters is expected to take about three days. When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the scene, some of the affecte= d people were seen busily gathering their wares to prevent them from being destroyed.

"My brother, I am really saddened by the turn of events", confused-looking Lucas Susureka told the GNA.

He accused the KMA of acting in bad faith and breach of an agreement with the Federation of Race Course Traders that they would be given adequat= e time to re-locate.

Madam Akua Boatemaa, another trader, complained that satellite markets where the city authorities promised resettling them were not even ready. She could, therefore, not understand why the KMA could not wait until it had found suitable place to relocate them.

"My son, I am completely shattered, only God knows how I am going to survive with the small business, I have been doing over the last 20 years, now effectively collapsed", Madam Boatema said.

Mr Godwin Nyame, Public Relations Officer of the KMA, said day one of the exercise was a success and appealed to the traders to cooperate with th= e Task Force. He insisted that the traders were given sufficient notice to re-locate.