Residents of Kumasi has been urged to support the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to decongest the city.
Mr Kofi Opoku Manu, Ashanti Regional Minister, who made the call, said the decongestion of the city especially the Central Business District (CBD) had become necessary in view of the high rate of encroachment.
He pointed out that the many illegal structures and squatters besieging the area had in recent times tarnished the image of Kumasi as the Garden City of West Africa.
The Regional Minister was speaking at a meeting of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in Kumasi.
The meeting was attended by the affected traders of the Kumasi Central Market who lost property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis following a fire outbreak that gutted the market some days back.
It was to highlight to the participants measures being taken by the KMA to resettle the traders to pave way for the reconstruction of the market.
Officials of the assembly had estimated that over 400 stores were destroyed, rendering over 3,000 traders jobless.
Mr Opoku-Manu indicated that the KMA had planned to find make-shift markets at Asafo market, Patasi and Kwadaso estates for the affected traders to help them continue life as the market was being restructured.
Mr Kwame Appiah, KMA Estate Officer, debunked claims by the affected traders that there were no spaces at the satellite markets and that so far as he was concerned, there were enough rooms to accommodate the traders to engage in open air market for the time being.
He therefore appealed to stakeholders to endeavour to go to the make-shift markets to ensure that the KMA constructed the market.
Mr Kwaku Yiadom Boakye, Spokesperson for the affected traders, pleaded with the KMA to allow them to reconstruct the market themselves since the majority of the affected traders would be at the receiving end if the KMA was allowed to reconstruct the destroyed market.
"Even before the KMA could start work on the reconstruction of the market, information reaching us indicate that there are plans to charge each trader 5,000 Ghana cedis before stores are allocated to the traders," the Spokesperson said.