Michael Allotey, the mayor of Accra, claims he is bringing the Red Line idea back to life in an effort to address the disorder on the city’s streets and assures everyone that it will succeed this time.
“So I’m going to have a red line, which former Mayor Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye did,” he said on PM Express.
“I’m going to have a similar Red Line tomorrow [Thursday, May 21]. So they’re going to stay behind the line, and the leaders will control them.”
Mayor Allotey claims that this new strategy is unique since he is involving market women in the process and working closely with them.
“I promise one thing, I’m going to work with a market woman,” he said. “You see, today during the decongestion exercise, the market women understood that we have to fix this.”
“It is a problem that most of the time, the Mayors don’t deal with the market women directly. But this time, I’m dealing with them, and they know the problem, because they are in there, and they know how to go about them.”
He pointed out that mayors’ disregard for the expertise and clout of the traders themselves contributed to the failure of earlier attempts.
The answer was proposed by the dealers themselves, the Mayor disclosed.
“They have told me what they want me to do for them, and this is what I’m going to do for them. One, they want me to have leaders from their camp. Maybe I’ll pick four or five of them to be their leader.”
He pledged that this endeavor would not be another fleeting campaign.
“It’s not something that’s another nine-day wonder thing, but it’s something that has come to stay, and I want it to stay because it’s something I want to do, such that if I’m no more the mayor, it’s one of the things I want to leave behind. For a legacy to be that when the mayor said he will clear the road, he made sure he left the road clear.”
The Mayor acknowledged the shortcomings of the previous system and presented a more assertive approach after host Evans Mensah brought up the fact that Vanderpuye’s Red Line did not hold.
“We need men to guide the red line, but the only thing we did at that time was we just picked the people from the market women and the market men to guide the red line.”
“This time, I’m bringing over 1000 youth to run day and night.” he said.
Accra will set the example, he said, connecting the endeavor to the NDC’s 24-hour economy agenda.
“The 24-hour economy policy, I want it to start from AMA. AMA is going to start 24-hour ticketing, clearing refuse, putting a task force in place, etc. Everything will be on 24 hours. We’re going to work to make sure the city stays alive until morning,” he reiterated.
This time, the city’s transformation will be maintained, Mayor Allotey emphasized. “So, this time is not something that is like previously, no.”
Source: newsthemegh.com