Regional News of Thursday, 20 January 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-01-20Bolgatanga market women cry over evacuation exercise
The Bolgatanga market
Correspondence from Upper East Region:
For the past few market days, the Bolgatanga District Assembly has been on the heels of millet and maize sellers evacuating to the new market due to overcrowding.
The exercise came with some resistance from the market women with the explanation that the old market was too small. However, some of them eventually moved.
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Currently, those with stores are still around and are pleading with the authorities to allow them to stay, since they could not go and leave their stocked stores.
GhanaWeb's Upper East Regional Correspondent, Sarah Dubure, caught up with some of them, and they shared their worries and fears.
A maize seller, madam Lydia Azure, asked the authorities to allow them to stay in the new market since they had structures there containing their foodstuffs.
"Look at all these stores, we pleaded with the owners of the land and they gave us the space to build. Now that they are asking us to leave, those who built the stores, what are we going to do with the stores?" She quizzed.
She pleaded that the authorities should have mercy on them by allowing those who had already moved to remain there, while the rest of them just stay back in the new market.
"They should please have mercy on us so that those who have already moved will be there and we those who are here, will also stay," she pleaded.
A millet seller, madam Agnes Ayine, explained that they had built some stores, and since the stores were immobile, it would be difficult to move.
She stated that security personnel came there under the authority of the assembly to drive them away on market days.
Madam Agnes Ayine intimated that most of them had not been able to sell their foodstuffs for the past five market days, meanwhile, they had children, to take care of in school.
She noted that if the situation becomes unbearable and they abandon their children, it would be out of place for anyone to blame them.
"We are taking care of children in school. We haven't sold for the last five market days. If it becomes difficult and we run away and leave them, would it be our fault? No, it wouldn't be," she said.
Extremely disturbed madam Agnes, who is a single mother, said she had not been able to eat nor sleep due to the situation.
A maize seller, madam Lariba Agana, pleaded with the authorities to have mercy on those who had stores in the market, by allowing them to stay and sell their foodstuffs.
She lamented that the development would eventually impede them from taking care of their children in school.
She further expressed the fear that if care was not taken and that happened, the possibility of their wards joining bad companies and forming gangs would be high.
"If your child is going to school and you are not able to support him to go and he drops out of school and goes wayward, it will be terrible," she pointed out.
Madam Lariba, therefore, pleaded that they should be allowed to stay back and sell their foodstuffs.
She as well explained that by that gesture, they would be able to cater for their children to become responsible in the future just like them(authorities).
"They should have mercy on us for the sake of our children so that we can take care of them to become responsible leaders just like them." She pleaded.
