Tamale drivers protest plans to relocate them from CBD
Drivers at the Tamale-Bolgatanga lorry station in the Central Business District (CBD) area in the Tamale Metropolis Tuesday morning expressed their disapproval of plans to relocate them to the outskirts of Tamale.
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They therefore locked the exit and entrance gates to the station in protest of the impending relocation exercise initiated by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA).
The action by the drivers Tuesday morning got many commuters traveling to Bolgatanga, Wa and other destinations stranded as no vehicle moved out of the station or entered.
The TaMA as part of its decongestion exercise of the CBD of the metropolis have decided to relocate all lorry parks to the outskirts to ensure free flow of traffic and pedestrian movement.
However, according to Baba Kareem, the Chairman of the Drivers Union of the Tamale-Bolgatanga station, the new place the assembly wanted to move them to at Kukuo, also a suburb in the metropolis has no shelter and other basic sanitation facilities to serve the travelling public and drivers, hence their decision not to relocate.
He said until the assembly provided them with an alternative place with the necessary facilities in place they would never move.
He therefore appealed to the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Musah Iddrisu Superior to give them a suitable place before the assembly embarked on the exercise to relocate them.
Last month, the TaMA embarked on a decongestion exercise to get rid off traders on streets and pavements in the CBD.
The exercise has been lauded by many residents since it has has brought relief to motorists and pedestrians and has also eased vehicular traffic in the CBD.
