New Kejetia Market: ‘We made a big mistake’ – Ashanti regional Minister ‘begs’ traders, drivers

Minister for Ashanti Region, Simon Osei-Mensah, has raised serious concerns with the new Kejetia market in the Region.

The new Kejetia market, he noted, is a beautiful edifice but poorly constructed.

The minister explained that the market was constructed without consideration for a proper parking lot for transport buses and traders as well as customers who own cars.

Simon Osei-Mensah, giving a historical account of the Kejetia market, gisted that the old market was established with reservations made for the parking of vehicles and loading of passengers to curtail traffic congestion in the market.

He recounted that over 1,000 vehicles could park in the reserved spot but with the current state-of-the-art market, only a little over 100 vehicles can park in it; hence posing huge difficulties to transport operators and private vehicle owners.

“We made a mistake . . . The Kejetia project is a very beautiful box. It’s so beautiful. You will be attracted to it but when you open it, the content is so dirty . . . You see, it’s time we, politicians, have to start admitting our faults and move forward or else nothing will change,” he told Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ Thursday morning.

The Minister, however, assured the drivers that the second phase of the market which is under construction will cater for them.

“We have ensured that the entire ground floor will be used for parking of the vehicles,” he said, believing the second phase will rectify the traffic congestion and ease the operations of the commercial and private vehicle drivers.

Simon Osei-Mensah further assured that the second phase of the market will address the flood situation in the market.

“We are constructing (a) very big drain around the whole phase 2 of the market as a collector drain to empty” into the main drain, he stated and thanked the Kumasi “Mayor including the Asokore-Mampong MCE for supporting our measures” to curb the flood.

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“We’ve told them several years now that between January and March ending, you have to desilt all the major drains. When you desilt it that time, you can minimize the flooding even if you are going to have it,” he added.