Sunyani (B/A) Jan. 3, GNA - A number of traders in Sunyani have said there was low patronage of their goods during the Christmas season and attributed the situation to the delay in the payment of salaries of government workers.

One such businessperson, Miss Veronica Adubia, Supervisor of Woodin Textiles, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the demand for their wares last December was very low as compared to the previous year because workers did not receive their salaries on time. She said even though there was some patronage, it was much below their expectation, and that this led to a 10 percent reduction in their total sales.

She also cited "infiltration of fake textile products," saying Woodin could not hold any promotion in the 2005 Christmas celebration. Mr. Frank Ofori-Nyarko, Proprietor of Cool Aid Supermarket, said children's toys, which used to be on high demand during Christmas, also witnessed low sales.

This, he said, was also the result of late payment of workers salaries, explaining that sales usually started around December 22 every Year but last year's started on December 24. Mr. Yaw Boateng, Manager of Farmers Supermarket, said even though prices did not go up last year, patronage fell very low as compared to 2004.

A beer bar cum restaurant proprietor, Mr. Atta Kofi Boahen, expressed dissatisfaction about the turnout of events in the business during the Christmas.

"For the past six years, the sale of alcoholic beverages has dropped, while the demand for soft drinks has been on the increase", he said, adding shortages of alcohol ic beverages and soft drinks were not experienced during the yuletide.

Mr. Boahen said he had operated the bar for 27 years. He however expressed joy that the Christmas was incident free.