AMA urged to expand markets

Accra, Nov. 29, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has been tasked to build and expand markets in all communities to ensure strict compliance of the embargo on selling in the streets. In a letter commending Accra City Mayor, Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, for transforming the city, Mrs Margaret E. Nkrumah, Headmistress of SOS Herman Gmeiner International College, appealed to government to continue to deliver universal education and create jobs to stop "this wholesale taking of the streets in search of meagre livelihood".

Mrs Nkrumah said it was the mandate of the Assembly to clear the streets and this shoul d not be done only because of the impending Ghana CAN 2008 tournament.

"Your attempts to clean the city are laudable and should be applauded and actively supported by every citizen. "Allowing people to sell anywhere indiscriminately or erect structures without authorization is not putting a human face on anything. It is outright lawlessness and failure of government and agencies to do what they know should and must be done." Mrs Nkrumah urged the Mayor to remain resolute and undeterred in shaping up the city.

"I urge you to remain resolute and undeterred by the opposition and pressure which you face: the majority of citizens are with you and applaud your courage and determination." Mrs Nkrumah urged AMA to pull down all unauthorized structures everywhere including waterways, railway lines and in front of legitimate properties.

She condemned stone winners who were blasting rocks close to the Weija Dam, saying the act was endangering the dam and lives of millions who depended on it and also exposing residents to floods that could occur if the dam should burst from explosions. "This is the same syndrome which rendered Accra filthy, unsanitary and an eyesore, littered with plastic and faeces and overrun by thousands of sellers on its streets and pavements and on every available patch of empty grounds," she added. 29 Nov. 07