Members of the Road Side Sellers Association, a new group of traders at Ashaiman, near Tema have organized a clean-up exercise in some parts of Ashaiman as part of activities lined up towards the inauguration of the Association on Sunday. The Association which was formed last year aims at uniting all roads side sellers in the Ashaiman Municipality under a common umbrella to champion the concerns of members. They desilted chocked gutters and cleared overgrown weeds at the Ashaiman Health Centre, the Municipal Assembly’s premises and the traffic light area.
The spokesperson for the association, Frank Okyere explained that about 1,000 members of the group sell by the road side in Ashaiman without permanent sheds. This, he observed creates lots of inconveniences for the traders as they have to compete daily with human and vehicular traffic in their bid to sell their wares. Mr. Okyere said the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly is in discussion with the members of relocate them to a permanent selling point to enable them to market their goods in a safer environment. He said though selling by the road side involves a lot of risk, they have to endure it to make a living.
The Chairman of the Association, James Mensah explained that members will also through their activities contribute towards the development of the Municipality. He said the association also intends to organize clean up exercises periodically to keep the community clean in order to avert the outbreak of any communicable diseases. Mr. Mensah called on the Municipal Assembly to expedite action on the proposed permanent site for the traders who do not have sheds in the main Ashaiman market to enable them to move from the street. This he said when done will ease traffic congestion. He called on all road side sellers who have not registered with the association to do so since together they can get their concerns across to the authorities.
