Minister urges street hawkers to cooperate with assemblies

Accra, Nov. 3, GNA - There are plans to relocate and integrate some traders of the Old Fadama slum in Accra to Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region as part of the decongestion exercise.

Residents of the affected areas at Old Fadama have been issued removal notices and educated on the need to leave the areas willingly, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said in Parliament on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question on measures being put in place to ensure that people do not suffer unduly as a result of the decongestion exercise embarked upon by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. On what concrete plans the Ministry had put in place to find alternative places for hawkers on the streets of Kumasi, Takoradi and Accra, who have been asked to leave, the Minster said "as far as practicable law and order must be enforced to enable all and sundry go about their normal trading activities."

"I wish to state herein that adequate provision has been made by the assemblies to cater for these hawkers." He said section 79 of the Local Government Act 462 enjoins the assemblies to make bye-laws to regulate activities within their areas of jurisdiction.

"One such bye-law is the prohibition of hawking in the streets of their areas of jurisdiction. However, of late this bye-law has been abused by hawkers with the excuse that they have no places to sell their goods," Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said. He said to take these hawkers off the streets the Accra, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi assemblies have established hawkers markets and satellites markets spread across. "All these facilities are highly underutilized because the hawkers find it easier plying their trade on the streets." The Minister said more education and cooperation was needed between the assemblies and hawkers to solve the issue of street hawking. 03 Nov. 09