CLEAN-UP of rubbles at the Agbogbloshie market in Accra has progressed, a week after onion sellers, scrap dealers and other traders were relocated to Adjen Kotoku in the Ga West Municipality.
The once jammed area has been cleared of debris from wooden and metal structures that served as stalls for traders and created human and vehicular traffic at the commercial enclave.
When the Ghanaian Times visited the area yesterday to assess the progress of work, the vast area had been stripped naked with the only existing structure being the e-waste collection facility.
One earth moving equipment was spotted still working. The number of workers and equipment on site has reduced drastically as compared to the fleet of machinery and human labour that were deployed to the area last week.
From the entrance of the one-time market, one could see the other side while there was free flow of traffic unlike previously when vehicles took several minutes to cross the stretch.
There was security personnel drawn from the Ghana Police Service , Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Fire Service presence at the entrances, exists and other parts to the enclave.
One of them explained to the Ghanaian Times that they were there to ensure law and order due to the resistance that the exercise faced earlier, during which some of the traders blocked roads and burnt car tyres.
Earlier, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, in an interview said 10 days more were needed to complete the clearing and reclamation despite the one week timeline announced earlier.
He commended the team from various outfits for the work done to move the traders after more than a decade of attempts by city authorities, and urged them on to see it through to the end.
On the project earmarked for the area, he said the government would announce it in due course, stating that his task was to reclaim the land and relocate the traders.
Traders at one of the most populous market in Accra were last Thursday relocated to Adjen Kotoku, where a market had been built for them but unoccupied for 16 years.
The exercise formed part of the Regional Minister’s “Let’s make Accra work” initiative aimed at decongesting the Central Business District of Accra to ensure the free flow of traffic and give the national capital a better image.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
