Hawkers have taken over the major streets and pavements in Tamale; the Northern regional capital, making vehicular and human movement impossible, rawgist.com has observed.
Traders display their wares comprising a variety of items including clothing, cooking utensils, fruits,vegetables among a host of others on the streets.
Rawgist news can report that the link road from Tamale to Nyankpala, also the Vodafone road, the main taxi rank to the Tamale Teaching Hospital road and many other major streets have been blocked by the hawkers
Mini markets have also been created on the streets and traders sell their wares on the middle of the streets whiles personnel of MTTU and the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly Task Force look on.
As a result, drivers in the city now take several hours to drive through the raucous business centre which would have taken them at few minutes to cover.
An exercise to decongest the capital was short lived and the assembly could not sustain it because of political reason, a member of the market task force team told Amoateng of rawgist.com. According to him, the MCE, Hon Hana Gundaadow is afraid that forcibly taking away the hawkers from the street may defeat his party’s campaign promise of not causing pain to market women.
The situation is causing serious challenges, especially for commercial drivers and pedestrians, as the number of accidents in Tamale keep increasing.
Reports of pick-pocketing and thievery are also on the rise in the city as some criminals take advantage of the inexcusable situation to rob unsuspecting people.
The situation is worse at the main Bus Terminal and Aboabo market, both business areas in the city where excessive filth is also a major problem along with the horrendous stench which threatens the health of the people.
Rawgist checks at relevant departments reveal that at least 12 persons have lost their lives conditions linked to filth.
Worsening the appalling insanitary condition in the city, the TMA has halted the observation of the ongoing National Sanitation Day Exercises for sometime now. Rubbish containers have been left uncleared leaving an overpowering stench all over in the city.
Meanwhile, a market complex commissioned by President Mahama in 2014, said to have been completed within 8 months has been abandoned, forcing the traders to sell under the sweltering sun.
Attempts by rawgist to reach the MCE for comments have been unsuccessful
