The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has outlined a 60-point directive to residents in the city aimed at decongesting Accra to make it easier to fight fire.

Accra has been hit by fire outbreaks in the dry Harmattan weather of January with the recent being at the Darkuman Kokompe Market where one person lost his life with property worth hundreds of Cedis going down the drain.

According to the Accra Mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, his outfit will deal with residents who block roads without permit.

“The Accra Metropolitan Assembly will clear all public right of space within our communities and these are our roads that have been taken over with containers,” Vanderpuije said at a media briefing Thursday.

“If any member of the public knows that you have sited a container, you have sited or built illegally in any public right of way, we advise you seriously to please go and take those structures down.”

He added: “We have had enough. People go to their own illegal structures and write ‘stop work by AMA’ and use red paint and put their own date there. We know there is plenty in town. Anyone of such structures whether it was done by AMA or by the owners I have instructed the director of works to go and pull those structures down with immediately effect, so that in case of fire, accessibility to the fire will not be a problem.”

The Accra mayor said offenders of the new regulations will be severely punished.

“No person shall sell animals such as goat, sheep, birds in any market unless the place has been designated by the AMA. The AMA task force will ensure that no parking or spillover market activities will occur on the streets.

“No person or group of persons other than AMA persons or police are allowed in the market after 6pm. No person or group of persons shall be allowed to sleep in the market or undertake any form of cooking except the restaurants and the chop bars allowed,” he added.