Traders take over Adenta-Madina highway

The newly constructed Legon - Adenta dual carriage highway is under serious threat of early destruction, Citi FM can state on authority.

This follows the manner in which traders and shoppers in and around the Madina market have taken over the road.

This eyesore is located right around the area known as Zongo Junction and has taken about 20 kilometres of the stretch of road and still growing.

Not only is this a threat to the newly constructed highway but to the very lives of the traders who have blocked the road with their wares.

These traders have abandoned the stores and sheds within the confines of the Madina market and have literally pitched camp on the road, causing serious human and vehicular traffic.

City authorities are currently looking on helplessly as the situation gets out of hand.

At its current rate of growth, there is a high possibility that the canker would spread into Adenta and probably near the toll booth on the highway to Aburi, experts have warned.

One interesting aspect of the development is that some agents from the city authorities charge the traders a minimum of GHC 6 a day, for doing business on the road, the same amount taken from traders who are inside the Madina market.

Every buyable item can be found at the market from all sorts of food stuffs and domestic products through school and office items, automobile parts to building materials etc.

You are welcomed by children who have abandoned school to either make quick cash by selling polythene bags and other items or are there to help their parents/ guardians to ply their trade.

Aside from that, there is a huge pile of garbage, certainly generated from the market activity and raises serious health issues of these traders, who are daring to make ends meet.

In case of a cholera outbreak one can imagine what will happen. Upon interaction with the traders as to why they would choose to put their lives at risk and ply their trade on the highway, most of them told this reporter that “some of us do not have sheds at the Madina market and we cannot set up in the market so we chose to come out here where no one would complain that we are stealing their customers.”

Others said “we know it is not right to be where we are but we cannot do much about it. If government provides a good market place for us we would move there at ones. Most of our customers also prefer buying from us where we currently are so going inside would be difficult.”