Petty traders and businesses along the streets of Sunyani, the Bono regional capital, have appealed for a grace period, as commercial transport operators demand their evacuation.
The transport operators in a release gave the police and local authorities a-three-day ultimatum to remove the traders occupying the shoulders of the various streets, citing Regulation 117 of the Road Traffic Regulations, LI 2180 (2012) to back their demands.
Regulation 117 prohibits sale of goods and services on roads.
Reacting to the directive in an interview in Sunyani, the affected traders and businesses expressed their concerns to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), saying they were worried, and appealed for more time for their relocation.
They called on the Sunyani city authorities to provide a permanent place for them to sell, saying that moving them out of the street would render them jobless.
Madam Leticia Amponsah Gyan, a petty trader said: “the directive is too harsh and we don’t have any place to go now.”
For her, selling along the streets was the only option left for them now because that was the only source of income for the upkeep of their families.
Madam Mavis Anima, another trader, called on the government to intervene to keep them in business in the interest of their children and families.
Another businessman, Mr John Osei, who deals in mobile phone and accessories, also described the directive as unfortunate, and prayed that the government would intervene in order not to create confusion, as the Christmas season sets-in.