Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister, has assured traders at the Takoradi market of government’s resolve to ensure their movement to the new market becomes successful without any challenges.
Briefing members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government, Environment, Science and Technology, Housing and Finance who are on a working visit to the Western Region, he explained that enough measures have been put in place to ensure that every registered trader is given a space to trade whiles also ensuring that when the multi-purpose market circle project is started it is completed within schedule.
He assured the market women that no one will lose his or she shop as it is been speculated. “Registration for the market has been done, we have introduced the three card approach; the green, yellow and red cards for the allocation of stores after the process,” he said.
Mr. Darko-Mensah explained that everyone who has a shop will get the green card so that immediately it is opened, you do not have to hustle to get a shop; the yellow card is also for those who have rented shops from our old women who cannot come to shops these days for them to get shops.”
He added that “that combination is our major obligation and that when that is provided, all others we call it bonus, that is the red card. mSo, those who will be getting the red cards are those who are asking for consideration to get the opportunity to get shops. So, we are getting over 2,780 shops which is more than the 400 lock- up shops we currently have,” he further explained.
“We want to assure those who have shops now and will be moving here that when they are going back, they will get their shops; you should have the confidence and patience to wait for the construction to be completed,” he added
For the other auxiliary works, he said the second phase will be worked on quickly, so that at least there will be more shops for those who wants to do business in Takoradi.
“For the issues in other places, we want to assure the people of Takoradi and the Western Region that we are not going to have them here; whatever we are doing, we want economic progress and these are areas we can use in generating jobs for our own people and therefore we want to do everything properly, in fairness and make sure market circle becomes live again after the reconstruction,” he concluded.
Meanwhile work on various temporary market sites is ongoing to ensure that businesses activities are not affected whiles work on the new market commence.
