Pedestrians Shopping Mall traders face ejection

The construction of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange would lead to the demolition of shops in the Pedestrian Shopping Mall located a few metres away from where the project would cover.

A three-tier interchange, which would cost 74 million Euros, is expected to replace the existing roundabout to reduce traffic congestion in the area and would be completed in two years. Construction works have begun.

In all, about 400 shops would be pulled down to make way for the construction of the interchange.

However, traders at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, expressed their displeasure at the ejection of some of the shop owners to make way for the construction of the interchange.

The chairman of the Pedestrian Shopping Mall Traders Association, Mr Charles Kwarko, said “we are speaking to our lawyers and we will soon go to court over the matter.”

He explained that about 18 months ago, two officials of the Department of Urban Roads held a meeting with the members of the association and announced that work on an interchange would soon start.

Mr Kwarko said the Urban Road officials assured the traders that the market would not be affected directly, though it might affect their business indirectly as the construction of drains in front of the Pedestrian Shopping Mall might make it difficult for buyers to access the mall.

The chairman of the traders association said they were also informed that the pavement and fence of the mall would be removed, while the blockage of the main Odwana Canal would breed mosquitoes and “that may be one of the problems we would face while the construction starts. There was no mention of us losing our shops here in the mall.”

However, Mr Kwarko said in July 2013, the traders saw some surveyors in the mall with measuring equipment “but we were not alarmed since we knew about the construction of the interchange and we also knew it would not affect us.”

He said “later more surveyors visited the market without a word to the leaders of the association and on the fifth time, we finally confronted them and found out that they were marking the points where the construction would affect.”

Mr Kwarko stated that officials of the Department of Urban Roads later took the details of the affected persons, including their names, phone numbers, shed numbers and type of structure.

A few days later, Mr Kwarko said, the association received a letter from the Department of Urban Roads, signed by one Alex Asamoah,which stated that  a compensation package was being prepared for the affected persons.

The letter dated September 9, 2013 was spotted by the Daily Graphic with data on the affected victims attached to it.

By Emelia Enin-Abbey/Daily Graphic/Ghana