The Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has assured the public that the decongestion exercise, to rid hawkers and traders off pavement and footbridges in the metropolis, would be sustained.
The Mayor has also vowed to improve the sanitary conditions in the city where garbage heaps are sometimes found by the streets in broad daylight.
The Assembly says the activities of the traders and hawkers impede the flow of vehicular and human traffic and contribute to the heaps of garbage along major streets of the metropolis.
Led by the Metropolitan Security Committee, a team comprising of the police and military, the AMA taskforce is expected carry out the decongestion exercise at various business districts.
Areas to be covered include the Central Business District, Kaneshie Market Area, N1 highway, Kwame Nkrumah Interchange and along the Odorkor-Kwashieman road.
The AMA indicated that the activities of traders and hawkers are against the AMA hawkers bye-law of 2011, and section 117(1) of the road traffic regulations, 2012(L.I.2180).
Meanwhile, Mr Adjei Sowah has fired two officials of the Assembly’s task force for failing to discharge their duties.
The two men, names unknown, with immediate effect are relieved of their post for not enforcing an order that required all vehicles offloading goods do so within 6pm to 6am.
The two officials were present after 6am when a vehicle was offloading goods at the Central Business District of Accra.
The Mayor of Accra who was on a tour the Central Business District to monitor a planned decongestion exercise chanced on the infractions, Joy News' Emefa Dzradosi reported.
The Mayor told the two, “for not enforcing the law, you’re fired today.” The officials attempted an explanation, but the Mayor will have none of that.
The Mayor urged traders to abide by the directive and warned that anyone caught going against metropolitan rules will have their vehicles with the goods impounded.
“That is the new rule, and it will continue,” he said, adding “we have not said you should not offload your goods, we are saying you should do it between 6PM and 6AM.”
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