Tomato sellers resist ejection attempts

The Greater Accra Tomato Traders Association (GATTA) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has cautioned the contractor working at the Aflao Station at Tudu in Accra against using “macho” men to scare them away from the market.
The General Secretary of the association, Madam Lydia Afoley Anum, told the Daily Graphic that the contractor was using “macho” men to work at the site at mid-night after the peaceful demonstration they undertook against the construction of a building in the area.
“We will use every avenue at our disposal to prevent the construction”, she said.
To back their words, members of the association have for the past one week been sleeping at the market to ensure that no work goes on at the site.
In their quest to have an amicable solution to the problem, the association has petitioned the Greater Accra regional minister, the minister for women and children’s affair and the TUC as the AMA seemed to be siding with the contractor.
Madam Anum said evicting them from the market would render hundreds of their dependants homeless as the tomato business had been their sources of income for a long time.
She proposed that if they would be relocated, then all others should also be relocated and a central market constructed for all fresh vegetable sellers in Accra.
The general secretary also appealed to automobile companies to assist them to acquire vehicles for their trading activities.