A coalition of trade unions and market associations in the Ashanti Region have announced plans to stage a peaceful demonstration to demand the immediate resumption of work on the delayed Phase II of the Kumasi Central Market redevelopment project.
The Traders Union has announced that the intended demonstration would help press home its demands. The Coalition of Trade Unions (CTU), has noted that the prolonged suspension of the project has left thousands of traders grappling with severe economic hardship after years of displacement.
The Kumasi Central Market redevelopment project is one of Ghana’s largest urban renewal projects and is expected to provide modern trading facilities for thousands of traders upon completion.
In a statement issued on Monday, July 20, the coalition accused the government of failing to honour repeated assurances that construction would resume on assumption of office.
According to the group, many affected traders remain at temporary trading locations, including the Race Course, Adum and other parts of Kumasi, where overcrowding, inadequate facilities and declining patronage have made business difficult.
It said the stalled project has disrupted livelihoods and contributed to congestion in Kumasi’s Central Business District and called on the government to immediately commence reconstruction on the second phase of the redevelopment.
The coalition is also demanding that funds collected from traders as premium payments for stalls under Phase I of the project be used exclusively to complete Phase II and cautioned that the said funds, reportedly lodged in accounts at Fidelity Bank and Yaa Asantewaa Rural Bank, should not be diverted for any other purpose.
The group further urged the authorities to put in place stringent measures to reduce congestion in Adum and adjoining commercial areas as a result of relocation of traders to temporary sites in the Central Business District.
It also proposed that management of the completed Phase I facility be handed over to a professional operations and maintenance company, contending that government-led administration has contributed to overcrowding and operational inefficiencies.
The coalition warned that traders’ have exhausted their patience and threatened that if authorities fail to act, some displaced traders would be compelled to occupy available spaces at the unfinished market irrespective of official allocations.
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