Kaneshie-Circle road without hawkers yesterday
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA) threat to arrest hawkers who sell on the street appears to be working as the streets of Accra were deserted yesterday.
The AMA had issued a directive that it would arrest street hawkers as well as people who bought items from the hawkers.
A check on some major streets within the metropolis revealed that not only had the hawkers and beggars who solicited money from commuters deserted the streets, but pedestrians as well, for fear of being arrested.
Areas affected by the no-hawking directive, which came into effect yesterday under the supervision of a team of AMA officials, include the airport area, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, First Light at Kaneshie, Odorkor, Sakaman, Malam Junction and Kwashieman.
David Ansah, a newspaper vendor who was the only person selling along the street at the airport area, indicated that some of the hawkers came to sell briefly in the morning but left for fear of being arrested.
He believed that newspaper vendors were exempted from the directive, saying, “They said those who sell newspapers are not included so we can sell.”
The Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Numoo Blafo, indicated that per the new laws, no one was allowed to sell any merchandise to a driver of a vehicle or a passenger, whilst the vehicle was caught in a traffic jam.
“A person shall not also buy from a street hawker unless the street has been designated for that purpose.”
Metropolitan authorities, he said, would strictly implement the by-laws to make sure that the hawkers did not return to the streets again.
“Anyone found culpable of committing any of the above offenses will pay a fine or in default serve an imprisonment term not exceeding three months, or be commuted to perform communal labour,” he noted.
Mr Blafo said any commuter who wanted to buy something should do so from a shop and not on the streets.
At the traffic light intersections at Odorkor and First Light, near Kaneshie, where on a normal day droves of hawkers carry out their activities, it was a different story yesterday.
There were no hawkers on the streets though some were seen standing in groups, perhaps discussing their next move, while others hid their wares behind the pavement upon seeing the AMA team.
However, no passenger was ready to take the risk.
The pavements at Circle had also been cleared and pedestrians were moving freely.
In an interview, Bernice Otto, President of the Novotel Traders Association who were recently relocated from Tudu to the Adwarna Pedestrians Market, praised the AMA for carrying out the exercise.
She said the markets had been deserted by traders who claimed buyers were not patronizing the market.
She said though the association had over 1500 members, only 500 of them were presently in the market.
“On the street there is no control and the hawkers can even sell unwholesome products to the unsuspecting buyers, but in the market there are controls. We have porters who go round daily and we sometimes invite health officials to educate us,” she stated.
Speaking shortly after a meeting held by the association, she said they had agreed to hand over any trader who went to the streets to the AMA.
On the economic implications, she said, “AMA can collect its daily tolls better if we are here in the market.”
However, a few hawkers in the Accra Metropolis defied the AMA directive and Numo Blafo confirmed that “at the 37 traffic lights there were a few people hawking but they fled upon seeing us.”
At about 7am, observations at Mallam revealed that a handful of hawkers were selling in the streets.
One newsvendor, who gave his name as Bright, told DAILY GUIDE that officials of AMA had not shown up yet.
When the paper arrived at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, one Ibrahim Yussif, a Fanmilk product vendor, said over 20 of them took their consignment from a deport at Circle but only two had shown up that morning.
He said usually, at about 7:45am, he would have sold over GH¢20 worth of ice cream but as at the time of the interview, he had sold less than GH¢5.
He pleaded with government to do something about the situation since it was going to render some of them homeless.
For Aisha Alhassan, a trader, the directive that hawkers must sell only at the lorry stations would not help matters. She noted, “I am just coming from the Neoplan station. There are a lot of toffee sellers there and market is not progressive as in the traffic intersections.”
“I would have sold either GH¢15 or GH¢20 but have sold nothing yet. I am even heading to my house.”
When asked if she had any plans to quit hawking, Arsha said she would be glad to quit hawking if she could be employed by government.
She said she was a single mother and that the directive would really affect her and her baby’s welfare.
She revealed that AMA officials had warned them and given them up to Monday, April 4, 2011 to leave the streets or risk being arrested and prosecuted.
By Linda Tenyah, Rocklyn Antonio & Emelia Ennin Abbey
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