Accra, Feb. 16, GNA - Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, Mayor of Accra, on Tuesda= y evening drove away hawkers selling on the streets as well as pedestrian walkways as he continued his tour of the capital.

Places visited included the Pedestrian Shopping Mall and the footbridges of Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Kaneshie Market where brisk busines= s including pounding of fufu was taking place in the night. The Mayor's tours are to ease congestion in the capital to pave way f= or the development of the capital, the first point of call of visitors, and make it attractive to investors.

Speaking to the press after the inspection, the Mayor said the purpose of the decongestion was to beautify the capital and give it the needed facelift adding that the congestion had brought about rampant crime in the city. Mr Vanderpuije noted that most of the traffic and accidents in the cit= y were the result of the pedestrian walkways being taken over by hawkers compelling pedestrians to compete with vehicles on the streets as well as destroying the lawns meant to beautify the city. "There is the need for pedestrians to have the right portion allocat= ed for them as well as the footbridges," he said.

Mr Vanderpuije urged the public to desist from breaking laws for political reasons saying this would only retard the country's progress. He reiterated that the AMA would continue to embark on the exercise without considering the political background of anybody and prosecute culprits found guilty of the law and deal with them to deter others from engaging in similar acts.

At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Mayor was hailed by a cross section o= f the public commending him for good work whilst others also called on him to help them secure jobs because he was making it difficult for them to sell their wares on the pavements. At Kaneshie, hawkers who had turned the foot bridge into a 93Chop bar= " and others engaged in all manner of activities incurred the mayor's wrath who ordered the task to drive them away. According to the Mayor, the AMA was putting structures in place to hel= p recruit more youths to be trained as sanitary inspectors to educate the public on the need to keep the environment clean because the safety of residents was paramount. Ms Abigail Sarfo, a trader, commended the mayor for the good work he was doing saying it would help others move into the shopping mall from the streets.

She noted that those on the pavements always paid GH¢1 to the task force officers to allow them to trade illegally at unauthorised places and urged the Mayor to deal drastically with those trying to make his work difficult.