Rex in Sunyani never sleeps
Life in the night is very lovely at Rex, one of the busiest areas in Sunyani, the Bono regional capital.
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Located close to Sunyani COCOBOD’s magnificent building, Rex never sleeps because all sorts of brisk activities go on from the day into the night.
Here, people stay awake deep into the night, whether during the week or at the weekends, to undertake different kinds of businesses.
Food vending
One of the popular trading activities in the area is food vending.
There is virtually every food one needs to buy at Rex, ranging from traditional food to fast food, shawarma, beverages and a variety of fruits.
As late as 10:45 p.m., when the Daily Graphic visited the area, people, particularly the youth, were seen queuing for food, while taxi cabs continued their brisk business of picking up and dropping off their passengers.
The situation has boosted economic activities in the area to the extent that desperate petty traders have occupied pavements, causing congestion.
Taxi drivers plying the Sunyani-Abesim Highway have taken advantage of the situation to establish a mini station to transport passengers along the stretch.
Visibility in the area at night has improved, following the installation of the World Bank-funded Ghana Secondary City Support Programme (GSCSP) streetlights.
The Daily Graphic gathered that in the 1990s, there was a popular old structure around the area, which served as a cinema house.
Dubbed "Rex Cinema House", the area attracted several people, especially the youth, every evening, who gathered to entertain themselves.
It was a great place to be in the evenings because movies were screened while some musicians premiered their songs.
Additionally, the grounds were said to have been used for concerts and hosting live bands.
However, the structure was later pulled down by a private developer to construct a three-unit shop for rent.
Resident
A resident, Emmanuel Opoku Agyemang, who used to patronise the place told the Daily Graphic that people could stay in the cinema throughout the night.
He said the place was lovely, as different kinds of movies, particularly blockbuster movies, were shown to keep them awake.
Mr Agyemang said getting to the 2000s, patronage reduced drastically because of the increasing number of television sets and computers in people’s homes.
He explained that in 2016, the place was used to show European football matches to football lovers.
Though the Rex Cinema House has collapsed, the area never sleeps, as human activities continue to increase daily.
Safety
A Kenkye vendor, Cecilia Fofie, who has been enjoying massive patronage, told the Daily Graphic that transacting business, even at night, at Rex was safe.
She said improvement in visibility at night had discouraged criminal activities, especially robbery in the area.
Mrs Fofie said she had worked at night at Rex for more than seven years, without hearing of any disturbances.
However, a fried yam seller, Rita Afriyie, advised that one needed to be very careful about his/her personal security.
While busy serving customers, she told the Daily Graphic that she sometimes operated beyond midnight.
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