ECONOMIC activities of traders at Madina Market in Accra have been on decline for the past five months, Today can report.
And what has accounted for this situation, Today gathered, has primarily been as a result of the deplorable nature of the markets.
Today established that for the past five months businesses of traders who are dealing in foodstuff and other assorted items at the Madina Market are virtually dying” since the patronage of their commodities was very slow.
However, many of the traders who could hide their frustration complained to Today that their customers do not come to the market anytime it rains.
That, they explained, was due to the poor state of the market which situation often make foodstuff and other commodities they buy from Kumasi and Takoradi to rot in their stores and kiosks.
Some of the traders, Today gathered, were contemplating of committing suicide due to their inability to pay loans they contracted from their banks to embark on their businesses in Madina market.
The affected traders at Madina Market, who made these known in an interview with Today via telephone yesterday, lamented that the situation was very disturbing as they have been recording losses for the past five months.
“Our biggest problem facing us is the bad condition of the market when it rains,” the traders complained to Today yesterday.
“We traders who sell along the road also find it difficult to sell our commodities because there is nowhere to stand.
According to them, the gutters near the market also give a bad stench when it rains.
The traders also complained of losses because they have to reduce the prices of their goods just to be able to sell something for the day.
They subsequently appealed to the sector minister to quickly come to their aid by the way of renovating the market.
Their concern was that traders at Market Madina who took loans from the banks to trade in foodstuff and other consumable items do not have people to patronise their commodities due to the poor state of the market when it rains in the area.
They indicated that if immediate measures were not taken by government to address the problem, the country’s laudable trade and business policies that President Akufo-Addo promised during his campaign to promote would be defeated.
To this end, they stressed the need for government to immediately step in to do something about the situation so as to avoid the situation where businesses, particularly foodstuff business, would become unattractive at Madina Market.
Story: Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu
