KMA DECONGESTS GARDEN CITY (PAGE 46)

Hundreds of kiosks, tables, chairs and other items belonging to traders who do business on pavements along the principal streets of Kumasi were destroyed at dawn yesterday in a huge fire set by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) as part of its effort to clear the “Garden City” of congestion.
The items were collected from the Morocco Shoe House Area, down to the main Kajetia traffic light, the S.A.T. and the Prempeh II Street, as well as the Unicorn House and other pavements in the Central Business District (CBD) and piled into mountains of wood before setting them ablaze amid tight security.
As the fire blazed, dejected hawkers and owners of the items looked on, with some of them, especially the women, wailing and cursing the KMA officials on duty.
“ We are now going to organise ourselves and leave for Libya because we cannot lead any meaningful life in Ghana,” one dejected woman told the Daily Graphic.
“ My plea is that the authorities would quickly develop the Race Course as an alternative place where we can move to and operate. This is because the exercise has coincided with an academic year and without any business, we cannot earn money to invest in our children’s education”, a middle-aged woman also remarked.
The decongestive exercise at the CBD, which has taken place many times, is meant to clear the traders who prefer doing business on pavements and portions of the road network.
It was also meant to bring sanity to the CBD to enhance the free flow of traffic, thereby reducing accidents, which have characterised the CBD as a result of pedestrians and vehicles competing for space.
The last of the exercises carried out early last year became a failure just as the previous ones.
The reason for the past failures was that the metropolitan authorities did not only back out after the affected traders threatened not to participate in the 2008 general election, but the authorities also apologised for the actions, thus encouraging the traders to return to do business as usual on pavements and along the road networks within the CBD.
This time, however, the KMA said it was collaborating with special courts in Kumasi, where recalcitrant street traders who flouted their directives and operated at any of the demarcated areas would be arrested and swiftly prosecuted to deter others.