KMA TO BEGIN DECONGESTION EXERCISE (PAGE 18)

THE Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is set to begin a major decongestive exercise in the central business area of the metropolis.
Consequently, it has ordered hawkers and other traders operating on pavements to quit by September 7, this year or risk ejection.
The decongestion has been on the drawing board since Mr Samuel Sarpong took over as the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE).
However, the exercise has had to be delayed because it needed approval by the general assembly, especially as it involved funding.
Against the backdrop of similar exercises in the past that failed to achieve their objectives, sceptics have begun questioning the sustainability of the upcoming exercise.
The last decongestive exercise under the administration of Ms Patricia Appiagyei, saw the assembly spending over GH¢200,000 to clear the streets and other parts of the metropolis of squatters.
However, just about six months after the exercise, the hawkers returned to the streets. That was during the electioneering when residents threatened not to vote for the NPP if they were driven from the streets.
Even before the upcoming exercise begins, the hawkers have vowed to resist any attempt to eject them from where they get their daily bread.
That notwithstanding, KMA officials said nothing would stop the assembly from carrying out the exercise.
According to them, the assembly had taken cognisance of the factors that led to the failure of past exercises and had put in place the necessary measures to sustain the forthcoming one.