Onion Traders at Agbogbloshie Market are pleading with Government to extend the 7-week ultimatum given them to relocate to the end of the year.
They are also pleading with government to find a place in Accra for them, claiming that the new market allocated to them is far from town and might not help their business.
The onion traders at the Agbogbloshie market were given a 7-week ultimatum to relocate to a new market at Adjen Kotoku, in the Ga West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey who said this in a meeting with the Onion Sellers Association, explained that the land belongs to the National Youth Authority who intends to develop it.
He noted that all traders trading on the land were expected to vacate by July 1, 2021, cautioning that there would be no negotiations after the deadline.
He pointed out that a new market was established at Adjen Kotoku for the traders over a decade ago in a bid to decongest the central business district but had refused to relocate hence the 7-week ultimatum.
Speaking with Atinka TV’s Abena Dufie Asare Adjepong on Ghana Nie, President of the Onion Sellers Association at Agbogbloshie, Mr Saali Bawa said despite their plea to government to exercise patience with them, their plea was not considered.
“We begged him to exercise patience with us. Onions are perishable, they are not strong and so if you have them and they are not bought in time, they will go bad so we told him to get a place for us in Accra but he [Minister] did not understand. He said they built the new market about 8 years ago so we have to go. We cannot fight with the government; we are pleading with him to give us more time. He should give us the end of the year and we will leave,” he said.
Mr Bawa said although they were directed to sit with the authorities every week to deliberate on ways to relocate the Onion Sellers, they refused to do so because they did not like the idea, saying that they received a lot of threats and therefore at some point they had to meet give in.
When asked why they refused to relocate, he said the roads are very bad for the transportation of the onions.
“Onions are bought in the farm and brought to the city to sell them but the new site is not good,” he said.
Meanwhile, he noted that it is left with nine days out of the 7-week ultimatum given them, assuring that they will move by the end of the year if government permits them.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
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