{"id":408910,"date":"2018-03-12T06:47:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T06:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=408910"},"modified":"2018-03-12T06:47:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T06:47:15","slug":"traders-near-presidents-home-begin-clearing-out-amid-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/traders-near-presidents-home-begin-clearing-out-amid-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"Traders near President’s home begin clearing out amid uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"
Traders and residents in the shacks directly opposite the Nima residence of President Nana Akufo-Addo have begun vacating the area which has been declared a security zone.<\/p>\n
There was evidence of some transported kiosks from the slum-like area, whiles some containers in the area had ‘for sale’ signs on them.<\/p>\n
On Friday, March 9, National Security gave the residents and traders up to Thursday [March 15] to pack out of the area. The affected persons were said to be receiving compensation of GHc 3,000 to GHc 10,000.<\/p>\n
But some of the the affected persons who spoke to Citi News<\/strong>\u00a0say the compensation amounts were not enough.<\/p>\n The area houses a variety of business\u00a0 including tailors, lotto spots, fruit stands, a carpentry shop, a mechanic shop, provision stores, among others, all being overlooked by the Stanbic Heights tower on the other side of the Ring Road just behind it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some of the persons on the ground, who were merely apprentices in shops or patrons of some of the establishments exhibited some apathy over the situation.<\/p>\n “I came from somewhere before settling here. I’ll be fine” one young man at a mechanic shop said.<\/p>\n However, uncertainty lies ahead for the likes of Joseph Kobina, a security man taking care of a family of six, who said he has lived in that area for over 30 years. He does not know where he and his wife and five children may be living by his 60th birthday on August\u00a04.<\/p>\n One of his daughters is an unemployed graduate nurse, two of his other older kids are done with school, while one is still in Senior High School and requires school fees.<\/p>\n When Citi News<\/strong> spoke to Joseph, he said he was waiting on a carpenter to help him begin the process of moving, but he was clear that the GHc 3,000 given him as compensation for him to move was not enough.<\/p>\n He said he will be left with no other option but to beg if he had not moved by the Thursday\u00a0deadline.<\/p>\n