MARKET QUEENS SUPPORT KMA (SEPT 16, PAGE 29)

MARKET queens in Kumasi have thrown their weight behind the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to reconstruct the Kumasi Central Market into a first-class facility.
They made this known at a meeting with the KMA Chief Executive, Mr Samuel Sarpong, at his office in Kumasi last Monday.
The meeting, which afforded the market queens the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming reconstruction of the market in relation to their businesses, also enabled them to formally welcome Mr Sarpong to his new position.
The women were confident that the reconstruction of the market would bring sanity into their operations.
They said they would educate their members on the need to support the KMA to achieve what was best for Kumasi.
However, they appealed to the KMA to get them places to relocate when the construction starts.
According to the KMA Chief Executive, construction work of the market is expected to start before the end of this year.
The market, to comprise of 40,000 stores and stalls, would also have, among other things, a police station, crèche, clinic, and access roads, among others.
Construction work to be undertaken on Build, Operate and Transfer, basis, would be undertaken in phases.
Mr Sarpong stated that the KMA was united as a body to see to the successful execution of the project.
He said everything was on course and that the government had given its full blessing to the execution of the project.
Mr Sarpong noted that some people feared the rebuilding of the market for fear of losing their stores.
“But let me assure you that no legal occupant of any store will lose his or her store,” he said.
He said the KMA would liase with the market queens to compile a list of all legal occupants with their pictures “and these people will be allocated stores accordingly on completion.”
Mr Sarpong said all affected traders would be relocated during the construction stage, adding that sites were being prepared for that purpose.
“I promise you that the reconstruction will not start if we have no place to relocate you,” he stressed.