The Ayawaso Central Municipal Assembly is preparing to construct a “24-hour economy” market at Mallam Atta, near Accra Newtown, to decongest the streets and create a more organised trading environment for petty traders.
Mr. Rudolph Collingwoode-Williams, the Municipal Chief Executive, said the initiative formed part of efforts to address growing congestion and provide alternative trading spaces for traders operating on pavements and roadsides within the municipality.
He said the municipality’s economy was largely driven by trading with a few printing hubs and small businesses.
“Mainly, it’s a pure buying and selling economy,” he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Monday.
Mr. Collingwoode-Williams noted that one of the biggest socio-economic challenges confronting them was the lack of space for commercial expansion and development.
“Everybody is trying to encroach on the pavements and the streets just to earn a living, which is becoming another challenge for the Assembly because we also need to decongest the streets for pedestrians,” he stated.
According to him, the project was expected to commence later this year after final engagements with traders and market stakeholders.
“We are trying to relocate the market, which we have engaged stakeholders on several times. So we are yet to do our last engagement. For the contractor, he wishes that the place is ready tomorrow for him to come on site. But, you know, moving people is another thing,” he explained.
Mr. Collingwoode-Williams expressed optimism that the market, once completed, would absorb many roadside traders and improve movement within the municipality.
He said aside from the proposed market project, the Assembly and Mr. Abdul Rauf Tongym Tubazu, Member of Parliament for Ayawaso Central, were supporting residents through apprenticeship and entrepreneurship programmes aimed at equipping the youth with employable skills.
He said beneficiaries had received tools, including hairdryers and other business equipment, under government apprenticeship initiatives.
“We are trying to educate the youth that having your own handiwork is better than trying to survive without any profession,” he said.
The MCE also disclosed that the municipality was preparing to operationalise the government’s “One Million Coders” programme to equip young people with digital skills.
On investment opportunities, Mr. Collingwoode-Williams described Ayawaso Central as a thriving commercial hub operating virtually around the clock.
“For Ayawaso Central, we are already running a 24-hour economy because this is a municipality that does not sleep,” he said.
He said the area remained attractive for businesses due to its active commercial environment, relative security, and accommodating population.
“Whether it is food, clothing, or printing, there is always a market within Ayawaso Central,” he said, while encouraging potential investors to take advantage of the municipality’s vibrant commercial environment.
Touching on sanitation challenges, the MCE described flooding and waste management as the municipality’s “number one headache,” attributing the situation to poor waste disposal practices and the area’s low-lying topography.
“The moment it rains, people pour their refuse into the gutters, and it gets stuck in the low areas,” he said.
He appealed to residents to desist from littering and dumping refuse into drains, saying the huge sums of money spent on desilting gutters could otherwise be channelled into developmental projects.
Mr. Collingwoode-Williams said the Assembly had procured additional dustbins and was enforcing sanitation by-laws, although challenges such as theft of bins and indiscriminate dumping persisted.
The Assembly was working to refurbish old school structures within the municipality and intensify public health education to prevent disease outbreaks during the rainy season, he said.
He urged residents to support the Assembly’s sanitation and development agenda to improve living conditions in the municipality.
