Shopping Mall (Circle)

NUMEROUS calls on traders who abandoned their stalls at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra to return to the market seem to have fallen on deaf ears as most of the sheds are empty.
Some of the traders who were selling on the streets (hawkers) told the Daily Graphic that they had decided to sell on the streets and on pedestrian walkways because most of the stalls were not being used by those who really acquired them, and that had unfortunately affected brisk business at the Shopping Mall.
When the Daily Graphic visited the mall on Friday, the place was virtually empty, while a large refuse container overflowing with rubbish was also found at a section of the market.
A group of young men and women have turned parts of the stalls to a place of abode, while others were seen busily smoking.
Other traders who were selling at a section of the next market also complained that their goods were not being patronised, because most customers preferred buying rather from those who sold on the pedestrian walkways.
When they were asked to explain why most of the stalls were empty while a lot of them were crowded outside the market doing brisk business, Mr Kwesi Adu, who dealt in ladies wear, said most of the traders had stalls at other locations in the city, but rented their sheds at the Shopping Mall to food vendors, since business was not booming there.
“If other sellers do not occupy their stalls, I will also not remain here to sell,” he said.
The Chief Co-ordinator of the Pedestrian Shopping Traders Association of Ghana (PESTAG), Mr Isaac Ofosu, indicated that although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had carried out a number of decongestive exercises to clear hawkers off the streets, the hawkers resurfaced on the streets after some time. He said: “It is not for any political reason, as some people are rather suggesting, but it is a complete laxity on the part of city authorities and the recalcitrant attitude of the hawkers themselves”, he added.
A footwear seller, Mr Charles Graham, appealed to other sellers on the pedestrian walkways to restock their stalls in order to decongest the city.
He also appealed to the AMA to do a comprehensive refurbishment of the market before they resettling traders.
Some other sellers called on the city authorities to reconsider reconstructing a fence around the mall to make it more visible to the people.
It would be recalled that traders paid between GH¢120 and GH¢240 to the AMA for each stall.