Kaneshie market to be expanded

THE management of the Kaneshie market complex has decided to open the market at 6:30 am and close it at 7:30 pm in a bid to improve upon security at the complex.
It is also to curb the incidence of thefts that occur mostly after some of the traders have left for their homes.
The Managing Director (MD) of the Accra Markets Limited, managers of the facility, Mr Edmund Kofi Dufour Addae announced this during an interaction with the Daily Graphic in Accra.
He said selling on the pavements had led to an increase in thefts at the market and that had become a security threat to the traders.
He added that there had been several instances where traders who left the market late had their cars broken into and their personal items stolen.
He also announced plans to expand the market to accommodate the increasing numbers of traders as part of efforts to decongest the market. Mr Addae explained that the expansion programme would comprise the construction of additional stores and a private car park of three floors at a cost of $25 million .
The first floor would be for buses, the second for taxis and the third for private cars. There will also be offices, shops and recreational centres to keep the market alive.
According to the MD, the private car park would not be for only the traders at the market, but also for traders at the Abbosey Okai Market and the First Light Bus Stop.
Mr Addae told the Daily Graphic that the old building would be renovated to serve other useful purposes.
He stated that management was still mobilising resources for the construction of the new facility, which was expected to be completed within three years.
Mr Addae said another major problem the market faced was the selling of items and foodstuffs on pavements, adding that the market had 150 vacant stores at the ground floor, but the traders who sold on the pavements showed no interest in them.
He, therefore, appealed to the government and the general public to help mobilise resources for the construction of the new market.