Scrap dealers take over Graphic Road; AMA gives them ultimatum to vacate
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has given scrap dealers operating along the Graphic Road and other unauthorised areas up to today to vacate or face the wrath of the city authorities.
Advertisement
According to the AMA, a particular area along the Agbogbloshie Onion Market has been designated for scrap dealers within the municipality hence, it was inappropriate for scavengers to settle at any place and consider it their place of abode.
The city authorities have also vowed to ensure that all scrap dealers adhere strictly to the directives.
The Head of Operations at the AMA, Chief Joseph K. Okine, confirmed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra last Wednesday.
“It is wrong for scrap dealers to settle at unauthorised places. So we have given them up to Friday, June 16, 2017 to vacate, or we’ll compel them to leave,” he stated.
Residents complain
The directive comes weeks after some residents in Adabraka and its environs complained bitterly about the activities of scrap dealers in the area.
The fear is if nothing was done about the situation urgently, it could escalate and pose danger to pedestrians and motorists.
The activities of the rag-and-bone men cover sections of the Adabraka Official Town Road in front of the Presbyterian Church to some sections on the Graphic Road.
These scavengers are seen anytime of the day carrying their scrap materials on hand-drawn carts to a bus stop near the Graphic head office, where they sell to the real dealers.
At the bus stop, a weighing scale has been stationed there by the dealers to evaluate all metals drawn there.
Close to the scrap dealers is a large heap of garbage which remains there for weeks before they are cleared, thereby making it possible for mentally retarded persons to seek shelter there.
Ban
In 2011, the AMA banned cart pushers and scrap dealers from operating along some designated streets in Accra, since they posed as threats to commuters.
Checks by the Daily Graphic indicate that enforcement remained a major challenge, thereby rendering the ban a mere rhetoric.
The cart pushers are usually seen along these streets carrying out their activities and disturbing vehicular movements.
While Chief Okine emphasised that the ban was operational, he indicated that the city authorities would continue to dialogue with the leadership of the Scrap Dealers Association to find a lasting solution to the activities of the rag-and-bone men.
‘Not ready to move’
However, some scrap dealers who spoke to the Daily Graphic stated that they had nowhere to go and would therefore not move anywhere.
One of them, Mr Mohammed Seidu, told the Daily Graphic that the business was his only source of income, “so it will be wrong for the AMA to come and sack us from this area. We get a lot of buyers here than anywhere.”
One of the dealers who wanted to remain anonymous emphasised that the AMA had not issued any warning to the members, and was surprised to hear such a directive.
“We have nowhere to go apart from here. Moreover, we do not make the rubbish you see around.
“Sometimes, we even have to pay some of these rubbish collectors to come and clear this place to make the area conducive,” it said.
Writer’s email: [email protected]