Traders Take Over The Adenta-Madina Highway

The newly constructed Legon – Adenta dual carriage highway is under threat of early destruction following the extremely lawless manner in which traders in and around the Madina market have taken over the road.

This eyesore is located right around the area known as Zongo Junction and has taken about 20 kilometres of the stretch of road and growing. Not only is this a threat to the newly constructed highway but to the very lives of the traders who have blocked the road with their wares.

These traders have abandoned the stores and sheds within the confines of the Madina market and have literally pitched camp on the road, causing serious human and vehicular traffic.

City authorities are currently looking on helplessly as the situation gets out of hand. At its current rate of growth, there is a high possibility that the canker would spread into Adenta and probably near the toll booth on the way to Aburi by the end of the year.

One interesting aspect of this development is that some agents from the city authorities charge the traders a minimum of GHC 6 a day, for doing business on the road, the same amount taken from traders who are inside the Madina market.

When one is heading to Adenta from Legon, right when you start descending the newly opened overhead bridge is a sea of umbrellas and tents around which there is brisk business.

Every buyable item can be found at the market from all sorts of food stuffs and domestic products through school and office items, automobile parts to building materials etc.

You are welcomed by children who have abandoned school to either make quick cash by selling polythene bags and other small items or are there to help their parents / guardians to ply their trade.

Driving on, you enter the think of affairs where the items that have been displayed by these traders on the pavements have come onto the main road and this has been worsened by the illegal activity of the trotro and taxi drivers who can only be described as ‘partners in crime’ of these traders.

Further up ahead is a huge pile of garbage, certainly generated from the market activity and raises a question of the health implications on the lives of persons who sell food and sit by the garbage all day long.

In case of a cholera outbreak one can imagine what will happen. Upon interaction with the traders as to why they would choose to put their lives at risk and ply their trade on the highway, most of them told The Weekend Globe, that “some of us do not have sheds at the Madina market and we cannot set up in the market so we chose to come out here where no one would complain that we are stealing their customers.”

Others said “we know it is not right to be where we are but we cannot do much about it. If government provides a good market place for us we would move there at ones. Most of our customers also prefer buying from us where we currently are so going inside would be difficult.”
The entire area needs to be looked at critically considering the dusty nature of the place and the health hazards there in. The authorities must do more than just lip service to nip this fast spreading canker in the bud.

If care is not taken and this issue gets out of control we would have a major issue on our hands because the traders would now DEMAND settlements before moving away from the road.

Already, city authorities are struggling with similar issues in other markets across the country like Abogbloshie, Accra Central, Kumasi Central market, Kaneshie, Takoradi market circle and others.
Let’s take action now.