Accra tomato traders protest against building project

The Greater Accra Tomato Traders Association (GATTA) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) yesterday held a peaceful demonstration against the siting of a building at the Tudu-Aflao Station in Accra.
According to them, the building, which is being constructed by one Mr Kwame Danquah, poses a threat to their trading activities.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the General Secretary of the association, Madam Lydia Afoley Anum, said the land on which the building was being built was given to them 23 years ago by the then Mayor of Accra, Mr E.T. Mensah, and they had being selling there since then.
She said they were initially assured by the contractor, Mr Danquah, that the project would not be a hindrance to their activities, but now, it had rather taken over the area where their goods were off-loaded and most part of the area where some of them sold their vegetables.
During the protest, the traders sang and shouted “we won’t leave, we won’t leave” as a way of expressing their displeasure about the project.
Madam Afoley Anum said they had slept at the market for three days to ensure that the contractor did not continue with the project.
“We are not going to allow him to take over the area, if he does, where do we go, we have nowhere to go, if we take to the streets too we would be evicted,” she remarked.
According to her, they had contacted the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) about the issue, but had since not received any positive response from the Assembly.
She called on the government to intervene, since the project posed a threat to their trading activities.
In an interview, another member of GATTA, Priscilla Adei Kotei, said she had been selling tomatoes at the station for a very long time and emphasised that that was what she did to enable her to look after her children.
“If they evict us how do I take care of them, where do I go,” she asked angrily and appealed to the government to come to their aid because that was what they did for a living.
Auntie Mary, another tomato seller at the Aflao station, complained that they had been left with just a small space to offload vegetables.
“We bring these vegetables particularly tomatoes from Burkina Faso and if we do not offload them, it means most of the vegetables would get spoilt and we would incur losses,” she stated.