Day 2 at Adjen Kotoku: Business steadily picks up
Business is picking up steadily at the Adjen Kotoku Market near Amasaman in the Ga West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, two days after onion traders and other businesses began occupying spaces in the facility.
The traders, in their hundreds, have occupied various sections allocated to them in the market while others have also taken charge of the open spaces in the eight-acre land provided them.
Advertisement
All the shelves in the market have been shared among the various onion groups, while others are still under construction.
Observation
When the Daily Graphic made a follow up visit to the market yesterday, it observed that the once deserted market was active.
The Graphic team observed that several truckload of onions had arrived at the market and were being unloaded into the market.
The development had also brought a major boost to businesses in the area, particularly the commercial bus drivers, who were seen busily conveying the traders from their various destinations.
Tricycle and motorcycle (okada) riders were also not left out in the show, as they were seen dropping off retailers who had come to purchase goods.
In spite of the busy commercial activities in the area, sanity was still maintained while strategies had been put in place to control waste in the area.
The Ga West Municipal Assembly (GWMA) had provided dust bins at various vantage points in the market to prevent indiscriminate disposal of waste.
The traders, who had earlier resisted the relocation, were full of praise to the government for embarking on such a move and assisting them in transporting their goods to the new site.
According to them, the earlier rejection was as a result of misconceptions they had gathered from the other colleagues about the new site.
Some of the traders, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, explained that their objection to the relocation was due to their apprehension about low sales and transportation challenges.
However, that apprehension has given way to hope.
“Even the first day we brought our items here, our customers came all the way from Accra to find us. The movement has not in any way affected our business.
As you can see, transportation too is not a problem, cars keep bringing in customers to do business,” a trader, Mr Adnan Sumaila, said.
Another trader, Mr Seidu Abubakar, also said “this place is far bigger and better than the Agbogbloshie Market, we have shops to keep our goods and there is a large space for trucks to park, unlike our old place where there was too much congestion.”
He, however, urged the government to provide enough toilet facilities in the market and other development projects such as improvement of the road infrastructure in the area as well as banks to ensure the safety of their business.
Scrape dealers give in
Meanwhile, the scrap dealers at the Agbogbloshie Market have finally agreed to move from the area as many of them were seen packing their scraps.
Trucks and other tricycles were seen loading wares comprising metals and plastic waste at the yard with strong security presence in the area.
However, according to some of the traders, no provisions have been made available for their relocation, in terms of alternative trading area as well as financial assistance to facilitate the carting of their goods from the area.
Due to that, they claimed they decided to sell their goods at lower prices to easily dispose of them.
Others who agreed to move to the Adjen Kotoku have also complained that the space provided them was not yet ready to accommodate them.
Their spokesperson, Mr Abdulai Osmani, addressing the media, said before the relocation exercise, they were assured that all the necessary provisions had been made available for them at the new site.
Upon visiting the area, they realised that the grounds were still being levelled while water and electricity had not yet been provided.
“Our work depends mainly on water and electricity, but none has been provided and after three days of the relocation exercise, caterpillars are still levelling the grounds,” he indicated.
Mr Osmani, therefore, pleaded with the government to hasten the process to enable them to commence with their trade.
Ga West Municipal Assembly
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Chief Executive of the Ga West Municipal Assembly, Mr Clement Wilkinson, admitted that there was still the need to provide more facilities in the market, indicating that the assembly was in talks with its sanitation department to increase the toilet facilities.
Additionally, he said the assembly had also developed a new plan to transform the place into a night market.
That, he said, would ensure that traders who came from afar to purchase goods would be able to trade irrespective of the time they got there.
On the issue of the scrap dealers, Mr Wilkinson said the assembly was putting in place measures to speed up the development of the site.
He said discussions were still ongoing and in due time, water and electricity would be provided at the site.
