The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has issued a two-week ultimatum to hawkers who were allocated spaces at the Pedestrians Shopping Mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to occupy them immediately or lose them.
Mr Stanley Adjiri-Blankson, Mayor of Accra said those spaces would subsequently be re-allocated to other traders.
He said it was sad that after spending “fortunes” to put up the mall that sought to settle displaced hawkers in the Central Business District and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, some hawkers have failed to occupy the spaces allocated to them and were still squatting in unauthorised places in the city.
Mr Adjiri-Blankson gave the warning when he handed over the five billion cedi refurbished Agbogboloshie market to traders in Accra.
On February 14, this year, the AMA began construction work on the dilapidated Agbogbloshie Market which involved road rehabilitation works, cleansing and evacuation of refuse in the market, fumigation and putting up of sheds.
Others included the removal of unauthorised structures, painting and re-decoration, medical examination of food sellers and increase in sanitary facilities.
Mr Adjiri-Blankson announced that work on the second phase of the Pedestrians Shopping Mall, which was to re-settle food sellers would soon start.
He said the Salaga and Adabraka markets would be temporarily re-located at the Pedestrians Shopping Mall
to enable construction works to start on them and he cautioned traders not to misconstrue the exercise as an attempt to sack them from the markets and replace them with others.
"Any thinking in this direction is obviously far from the truth and must therefore not be entertained."
To ensure law and order, Mr Adjiri-Blankson said all traders in the Agbogbloshie market would be registered and given AMA identity cards adding, all cargo trucks bringing food items from the market were to off load them before 0730 hours each day.
No trader would be allowed to trade within the eight meter margin from the drains on the main road and food items would also be sold on prescribed tables instead of the ground.
He said it was an offence for any squatter to use the market as a sleeping place saying, "Such squatters would be arrested and prosecuted."
Some of the traders commended the AMA for work done well and promised to keep the market clean.