Traders against relocation of Akateng market

Some opinion leaders and traders have kicked against plans of the Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly to relocate the Akateng market.

They claim the relocation would not serve the interest of majority of the people who use the market.

In separate interviews conducted by the GNA Media Auditing and Tracking of Development Project team, some traders at the market disclosed that the closeness of the market to the Volta Lake facilitated trading activities, as people brought their goods from the various islands on the Lake to sell.

According to them, the proximity of the market to the lake made business transactions easy in terms of transporting goods to and fro the lakeside to the market centre.

Some dademanstemei of the area told the GNA that the nearest place the market could be relocated had been encroached upon and therefore the relocation would mean demolition, which they think was untenable.

The Akateng market is one of the biggest and vibrant markets in the Eastern Region and also serves as one of the main source of revenue for the Manya Krobo District Assembly.

Traders on market days come from Kumasi, Tema, Akosombo, Accra, Koforidua, Kasoa and other parts of the country.

The main commodities traded in are livestock, tubers, charcoal, vegetables and fish, which are transported on the Volta Lake from the Afram Plains and various communities dotted along the Volta Lake.

GNA Media Auditing and Tracking of Development project being sponsored by STAR-Ghana visited the market and noted that, parts of the market stalls had been washed away by floods, when the lake overflowed its banks.

In an interview, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Tetteh Angmor, disclosed that the Assembly planned to relocate the market to save the entire market from being washed away.

According to the DCE, often the floods covered almost the entire market causing huge devastation to goods, yet when the water recedes, the people gather again to do business.

He indicated that, the assembly would sensitise the stakeholders and traders on the need to relocate the market for the mutual benefits of the traders and the Assembly.