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| The abandoned stalls at the Odorna Market |
ONE of the biggest markets in Accra, the Odorna Market at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, is now virtually empty, four years after it was opened, because the traders complain of low patronage as a result of hawkers besieging the pedestrian walkways.
Most of the traders who spoke to the Daily Graphic said sales in the first few months were good but now things were not good as they had anticipated because pedestrian hawkers had taken over most of the customers.
Although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says it is removing all pedestrian hawkers and continues to urge the traders to relocate to the market as there are still spaces there, the hawkers have paid no heed to the call.
Meanwhile, traders have abandoned their stalls in the Odorna Market to sell along the streets near the lorry station because people hardly go to the market to make purchases.
“When customers shop from the small market and get to the lorry station, they feel that is the end of the market so they pick vehicles and go home,” the Vice-President and Public Relations Officer of the Petty Traders Association of the market, Mr Paul Adu-Boahen, told the Daily Graphic.
The abandoned stalls have become sleeping places for porters (“kayayei”) and street guys, a development which makes the place unsafe for traders.
The market also lacks electricity, a warehouse to store goods, a fire post, a police station and security.
Mr Adu-Boahen said it was difficult for electronic dealers to sell their goods because they could not test their appliances for their customers, while those who sell drinking water are also affected.
Besides, there had been incidents of loss of goods and theft as a result of the lack of security guards and a warehouse.
He said most traders got loans from banks to do their business and it would be an unpleasant situation for them if their businesses did not bring good returns, since it would be difficult for them to pay back those bank loans.
Among the products sold in the market are foodstuffs, provisions, food products, electronic goods, textiles, second-hand clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, hair products, beverages, cooking utensils and others.
There are also hair salons, dressmaking shops, cold stores, chop bars and a lorry station.
The petty traders are, therefore, urging the government to provide the amenities they need, while the AMA should endeavour to fulfill its promise to provide gutters, security, a police station and banks to make the Odorna Market attractive for traders to stay and sell their goods there, instead of selling on the pavements
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