Traders operating at the Kwame Nkrumah Holy Gardens and on the pavements are up against the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey and the Task Force Team over the demolition of their structures cited at unauthorised places.
The aggrieved traders tried impeding the work of Task Force Team who were ordered to bring down all illegal structures along the pavements and around the Holy Gardens.
In a video sighted by myrepubliconline.com, the traders were seen blocking the operator of the heavy equipment from pulling down their illegal structures.
The swift intervention by armed Police personnel helped restore calm.
Looking helplessly on as the taskforce destroyed their structures, these traders could only wish there was something they could do to avert the situation.
The joint task force, made up of the AMA, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and Police demolished stalls on the pavement.
After the construction of the Interchange, some hawkers have transformed the area around the interchange into a business avenue where all sort of goods are
displayed for passers by to purchase.
The retailers pelted stones at the bulldozer being used for the exercise, breaking its windscreen, amidst gunshots.
The exercise was immediately aborted while the task force moved to Kaneshie.
‘Operation clean your frontage’ Agenda
The Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, has reiterated his call on traders and motorists operating along the streets and pavements of Accra to evacuate before next week Tuesday.
At a stakeholder engagement with various trader unions in Accra ahead of the rollout of the ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage’ initiative on February 1, the Minister vowed to ensure that the streets of Accra are decongested for a cleaner society.
He specifically mentioned the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra as one of the areas with recalcitrant traders who have taken over pavements in the area.
He said he will personally supervise the decongestion exercise and will ensure that seized woodworks are destroyed.
The Minister expressed regret about what he described as the high level of indiscipline in the Greater Accra Region saying that it is time to address the issue.
The ‘Operation clean your frontage’ was launched by President Akufo-Addo in October 2021 and is being championed by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, under the auspices of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council with the tagline, ‘Let’s make Accra work’.