Ashaiman Hawkers Complain of Bad Business

by: Helena Selby

The decongestion exercise conducted by the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA) in the latter part of last year has not given any satisfaction to hawkers and traders, as they claim the Assembly has refused to complete its duties as a municipal authority.

According to Mr. Benjamin Asamoah, a trader at Ashaiman, he and his colleagues are very happy about the initiative the ASHMA took to settle hawkers and traders at the various markets.

However, they are disappointed that the ASHMA has not been able to clear all the hawkers of the streets, to compel people to patronise the various markets.

He noted that even though many of the hawkers came to register for a space in the market, a lot of them still prefer to trade by the roadsides, and in the process making business slow for those in the markets.

He mentioned that from the look of things the majority of these buyers were not aware of the resettlement of traders and hawkers at the various markets, and that it would be a good thing if the ASHMA comes out with an official ceremony to bring awareness to the section of the public who are not aware of the presence of the markets.

It is their wish that as the ASHMA was responsible for the decongestion it must make sure no traders are left on the streets to hinder the progress of business in the various market places it had provided.

He said this would be of great help to them, as most of them have the responsibility of paying back the loans they collected from their banks for business.

He suggested that the ASHMA could get rid of hawkers and traders on the streets who have space in the market, but were refusing to sell there.

He said people would rush to their various spaces to sell if a deadline was given for them to make use of their spaces.

Apart from the issue of poor business transactions, these traders complain about the sandy nature of the market, which makes their products dirty when the wind blows, making it sometimes difficult for them to sell to buyers.

Moreover, the floor of the market becomes very muddy when it rains, and this also deters buyers from entering the market place.

They expressed disappointment about the fact that till date, the ASHMA had not fulfilled its promise of providing them with a warehouse and streetlights.

The traders complained also that the lack of streetlights compels them to close very early to avoid attacks from thugs around the area.

They as well have to go through the plight of carrying their items to their various homes and places, due to the lack of a warehouse to store their items at the end of the day.