Red bands tied at Kejetia Market as traders threaten ‘showdown’ with management

Traders at the Kejetia Market Complex have launched a series of actions against managers of the facility, to push for the installation of separate electricity meters for each stall.

Red bands have currently been tied at various pavilions, entry and exit points at the facility as the traders press home their demands.

Press conference

Leaders of the traders’ coalition say they have run out of patience as numerous petitions to get the situation addressed have been ignored. Speaking with Asaase News on Tuesday (5 September) General Secretary of the Kejetia Petty Traders Association Reuben Ameh laid the blame at the doorstep of management.

“The red bands we have tied are the beginning of a series of actions taken against management’s failure to address our issues…We have on countless occasions reminded management to deal with our metering issues, but this has yet to come to light. We are sick and fed up with the talk shop. We just need to see the contractors on-site to fix the meters for us. That is all that we are looking for,” Ameh said.

Other concerns

“We were supposed to go off the Ghana Water grid and depend on our mounted borehole, but this is not happening. We do not understand why the Kejetia Market is sitting on the best water grid in Kumasi and yet we still pay huge sums of money to the Ghana Water Company. We want authorities to ensure that water flows from our dugout borehole”.

“The other issue has to do with the delay in the release of the fire report. The committee has since presented their report to the minister but not a single comment has been made over the issue. We have written letters on countless occasions, but we are yet to receive a response from the government”, Armeh said.

Ultimatum

The traders have been agitating against the installation of a single-unit power source serving all stalls at the market. Despite several assurances by city authorities to install meters for each stall, the traders are not convinced that this will happen anytime soon.

“We are not ready to hold talks this time…By the 12th of this month, if we don’t see any action, we will be forced to lock up the manager’s office. Then we will issue another one-week ultimatum to resolve all pressing issues. If that does not happen then we will picket the manager’s office to press home our demands”, the General Secretary said.