Regional News of Saturday, 2 March 2019

Source: thepressradio.com

Traders resist KMA order; Resume business on 70-Metre Adum footbridge

A vendor attending to a customer A vendor attending to a customer

A number of traders within Kumasi metropolis have resumed their business activities on the popular 70-meter footbridge located at Adum, constructed to ease human and vehicular traffic in the Central Business District of the nation's second largest city, Kumasi, The Press Radio has discovered.

These traders according to checks done by The Press Radio are the same merchants who few weeks ago were kicked out of the facility (Foot Bridge) by authorities of KMA after the latter received intelligence that they (traders) were abusing the purpose for which the facility was constructed through their activities.

As a way of exercising smartness to escape the intelligence of KMA authorities and their taskforce, they carry out their trade on the facility on Sundays.

This is the day most of them perceive as the moment the bye laws governing the metropolis are so loosed to be affected against them since officials of the assembly are always out of duty on Sundays.

Though business activities on the footbridge have zeroed down (on Mondays - Saturdays), investigative team of The Press Radio is baffled over why authorities of KMA are unable to enforce the law to its fullest by ensuring that these traders are flashed out from the facility even on Sundays.

The footbridge built at a cost of GHC 2,229,189.00 was meant to allow free and safe movement of pedestrians across the railway lines in Adum, but this has largely become an illusion.

Every space on it is now occupied by second-hand clothes and footwear dealers, mobile phone sellers, food vendors, dealers in cosmetics, sandals, aphrodisiac, merchants of a local soft drink called "soobolo", socks among and vegetable sellers.

It is now a nightmare navigating ones way through the various wares put on display and many people are increasing avoiding the bridge, compounding the human and vehicular traffic congestion.

The worse location was the foot of the bridge close to Hello Fm which was totally taken over by ladies dealing in the sale of female clothing.

The Press Radio based this write up wants to put to authorities of KMA that should the bye laws of the assembly be perceived as loosed and ineffective on Sundays and are they aware of the activities of these traders on and around the facility on Sundays?