AMA bye-laws gradually taking effect

Some recalcitrant traders still selling last Friday at the Mallam traffic light

Hawkers on the streets of Accra are gradually respecting the bye-laws of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on the ban of street hawking, which took effect from last Friday, April 1.

The Accra File made this observation, when it accompanied some officials of the AMA and media personnel on a tour of some streets of Accra, where this activity takes place.

Some places the team visited included parts of the Accra High Street, Mallam Junction, Kwashieman, Lapaz, Apenkwa, and some parts of the Airport-37 Military Hospital road.

According to Numo Blafo III, Acting Public Relations Officer of the AMA, the presence of the metropolitan guards on the streets was deterrent enough.

He said currently, there were 100 personnel in the field, with 50 of them metro guards, 20 from the Police Service, 15 from the Fire Service, and 15 from the Prisons Service.

He further disclosed that the assembly had identified 14 places where hawking activities go on.

He said the only problem they were recounting was that 'our men are not enough on the streets, so when they drive them away from the streets, the hawkers quickly move to the other lane.'

Numo Blafo added that the reason for the ban of hawking activities on the streets was due to the dangers it posed to human lives, and also to maintain sanity on the streets.

He, therefore, gave the assurance of sustaining the operation until hawking activities are stopped in areas under the AMA's jurisdiction.