The Ashanti Regional Minister Hon. Simon Osei Mensah has ordered traders who have acquired spaces at the Race Course Market following a relocation exercise by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to occupy them or risk losing them after one week. He questioned why traders who have gotten spaces have refused to occupy them and hanging around the Central Business District while others are eagerly looking for spaces to trade.
The Ashanti Regional Minister gave the order when he visited the Race Course Market to familiarize himself with activities on-going there and also encourage the traders who have started trading there to continue as the KMA enforced the relocation exercise. “All traders who have gotten spaces and have refused to come and trade have one week to do so. If they fail to come the place would be allocated to different traders who are ready and willing to come here to trade.
The Ashanti Regional Minister was led on the inspection tour by the Metro Chief Executive, Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi and some officials of the Assembly. The entourage started their tour from the Central Market through Roman Hill, Aboabo Station, Alabar to K.O and Dr. Mensah market. During the tour, the Minister and the MCE educated the traders to desist from showcasing their products and wares on the pavements for easy movement of pedestrians. They also spoke against indiscriminate littering and heaping of refuse in front of their shops and asked them to be patriotic citizens by cleaning gutters in front of their shops and collect the refuse without waiting for the Assembly to collect for them.
The entourage also visited the new constructed lorry terminal at Sofoline where the MCE sounded a word of caution to the drivers against littering of the lorry terminal. At Race Course some of the trotro drivers also complained about the continuous presence of taxis in the Central Business District was affecting their business. According to them, since the taxis are still operating in the CBD, most passengers are reluctant in coming over to Race Course to pick their vehicles. Hon. Simon Osei Mensah assured the drivers the KMA will restrategize to ensure commercial driving is not affected by the relocation exercise and the presence of taxis in the CBD.
Addressing the media after the tour, the MCE, Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi was impressed with the seemingly order in the CBD. He stressed that the exercise would be sustained for commuters to move freely in town. Touching on allegations of extortion of monies from the traders, Hon. Osei Assibey Antwi asked traders who have been charged for a space at the Race Course to report to the Assembly. “the Asantehene did not sell the Race Course to the Assembly so we also have no moral right to sell to the traders. Several allegations of extortion have dominated the media landscape but none of the traders has been bold to point to anyone at the Assembly to have sold the space to them” he noted.