Race Course traders lament poor roads
Traders operating at the Race Course Market in Kumasi have expressed their displeasure over the deplorable state of the road network within the market which is preventing effective patronage of their goods and services.
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The situation, according to the market women, has negatively affected their businesses and finances and several appeals to the authorities to fix the road have proved futile.
They have, therefore, renewed their appeal to the local authority and the government to come to their aid, as the current rain pattern is making plying the road to conduct business very difficult and unbearable.
The women also complained of the poor management of waste at the market, which they said, was affecting their health and business.
The traders raised these challenges last Wednesday, at a day’s sensitisation programme organised by the Network for Women's Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), in collaboration with Windows of Hope, a local non-governmental organisation, to educate them on their rights and responsibilities as women at the Race Course Market in Kumasi.
The programme was supported by Plan International Ghana as part of the Women’s Voice and Leadership Project, with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
Market Queen
The Race Course Market Queen, Esther Agyei, also reiterated the concerns raised by her colleague traders and called on the city managers to do something about the roads at the market.
“People already feel reluctant to come here to trade due to the distance and the road networks have not helped matters,” she said.
The road network at the market
She explained that the traders were always at the mercy of the weather, adding, “we are always suffering from the dust and when it rains too, the roads become impassable due to its muddy nature”.
It was, therefore, their plea that some of these issues were resolved immediately to improve on the conditions at the market to attract customers and improve on business activities there.
Background
The Race Course Market was created as an alternative for traders who were displaced during the construction of the first phase of the Kejetia Redevelopment Project.
It was to serve as a temporary trading point for the affected traders while awaiting the completion of the market.
However, the traders have never liked the place as most of them moved to the shoulders of the road in the Central Business District to sell their wares.
They complained about the conditions at the market and the fact that it was far from the city centre, thus serving as a disincentive to customers to walk there to buy their goods.
Responding to some of the issues raised by the women, the Market Administrator for Bantama Sub-Metro, Nurudeen Mahama, appealed to the traders to exercise patience, as his office had already consulted the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), pledging that soon the problem would be resolved.
The insanitary state of the market
He urged the women to report to his outfit any issue bordering on the development of the market, especially with the management of refuse, as it was their responsibility to make the market a conducive environment for them to smoothly conduct their trading activities.
Executive Director
The Ashanti Regional Focal Person for Netright, Elizabeth Aduboffour, who is also the Executive Director for Windows of Hope, also added her voice to the call and appeal by the market women on the authorities to fix the roads.
She asked the women not to feel reluctant in reporting and addressing issues that affected their rights and to ensure that their voices were heard.
Mrs Aduboffour explained that the programme was to arm them with sufficient knowledge on their rights and responsibilities and to increase public awareness of women’s economic rights, in order to assist them to make informed choices and decisions.
The sensitisation programme targeted market traders, market queens, market managers as well as other women groups with interest in the protection of the rights and responsibilities of women.
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