Accra, Nov. 8, GNA - The three main hawkers' associations within the Accra metropolis on Tuesday petitioned Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to assist them bring sanity to the streets and pavements in the capital. The group said the AMA should release its task force to back their moves to clear hawkers along the shoulders of the streets, adding that such illegitimate activities posed a danger to both pedestrians and vehicles.

The petitioning hawkers' associations were the United Petty Traders Association of Ghana (UPTAG), Positive Traders Ghana Association (POTGA) and Ghana Petty Traders Association (PTA.).

Mr Desmond Donkor, Chairman of UPTAG, made the appeal on behalf of the group when it met the AMA in Accra to discuss how to deal with the problem of street hawking in the metropolis.

He held that most of the hawkers selling on the streets and the pavements did not belong to any of the three associations. Mr. Adjiri Blankson who seemed not happy with the suggestion, said the assembly carried out the last eviction exercise with the aim of improving the sanitation and the image of the city but the hawkers proved recalcitrant and returned to the pavements. He said it was not the AMA that allowed the hawkers back to the pavements but rather the group leaders who encouraged them by giving them spaces.

"If the AMA wants to carry out another decongestion exercise, it would do it at its own time," he said.

He said the leadership of the traders associations within the metropolis had proved very difficult to deal with because they have always reneged on their side of the bargain.

Mr Paa Kofi Ansong, Chairman, Ghana United Traders Association, a group comprising legitimate traders, advised the hawkers to cooperate with the AMA and find a lasting solution to the menace of street hawking.