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Traders of the National Artisan Association under the Trades Union Congress (TUC) branch at Cable and Wireless, Bubiashie, Accra, have called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to prevent a planned demolition by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Ghana Post.

The intended demolition exercise, Today gathered, is to pave way for the government’s One District-One Factory project, which will be executed on the Cable and Wireless land.

However, addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, General Secretary of the Association, Mr David Arthur, intimated that planned demolition when carried out will deprive them of their livelihoods as they will have no place to work and contribute their quota to the country’s development.

“We shall be most grateful if His Excellence will use his good offices to consider and grant the union’s humble request,” he passionately appealed.

According to him, officials of AMA and Ghana Post had marked over 2,000 make-shift structures and other residential structures for demolition, although they had petitioned the president to stop the two state agencies from carrying out the exercise.

“We wish to remind the President, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of the TUC and National Artisanal Association’s petition and to inform him of the Nii Koi Olai support for the union’s petition to the president for the creation of the One District, One Factory under the union’s Industrial Village Concept

“….friends of the media, it was on the 8th September, 2017, that you were invited to the Union’s press conference where you were informed of our petition to the President, pleading with him to intervene on our behalf to stop the Ghana Post and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly from carrying out their planned action of eviction and demolishing of structures at the Cable and Wireless,” Mr Arthur recounted.

That, according to him, was as a result of a Ghana Post notice advertised in the Daily Graphic of September 4, 2017 with the headline “Removal of Squatters and unauthorised structures on Ghana Post Land at Bubiashie, Accra.

Mr Arthur mentioned that ”Due to that publication in the Daily Graphic, the leadership and the entire membership of the Cable and Wireless branch of the union petitioned the president to come to the union’s aid by stopping the demolishing exercise.

“We also appealed to the president to use his good office to help develop the Cable and Wireless land at Bubiashie into an Industrial Village for the informal economy workers as our share of the government’s One District, One Factory,” he added.

He said: “We have not heard from the President until recently we heard that Ghana Post is going ahead with its plans to carry out the demolishing exercise.

“We are all witnesses to the pronouncement made by Nananom that they are in full support of the union’s request for the Cable and Wireless land to be turned into an Industrial Village in fulfilling the government’s promise of One District, One Factory,” he said.

According to Mr Arthur, the chiefs have indicated that the idea of developing the land into an industrial village for the informal sector workers will create enough spaces to absorb many artisans and traders scattered over the city, and will also create jobs for the aged and unemployed youth.

He expressed his outfit’s support for the government, indicating that “we know what the president is capable of doing to make Ghana work again.”

He cited examples of spaces deliberately created including the Kumasi Suame Magazine and the ongoing Industrial City development in Kumasi.

The general secretary of the National Artisanal Association gave the firm assurance that they will support the President’s vision to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

“We shall elaborate more on our vision and objectives which are in line with [the [President’s] party agenda to develop Ghana when we are given chance to meet our President,” he asserted.