[ 2014-09-20 ]

Govt must regularise informal trade
Accra , Sep 20, GNA - Stakeholders working to
improve conditions in the informal sector have
advised the government and city authorities to
institute pragmatic steps to standardize informal
trading and protect the traders from occupational
and health hazards.

Traders, mostly women, contribute a chunk to
government’s revenue towards national
development in the form of market tolls and
licenses but sadly they live under deplorable
conditions that endanger their lives with many
ageing at faster rate, the stakeholders said.

Mrs Dorcas Ansah, Coordinator of Women in Informal
Employment, Globalising and Organising (WIEGO)
told the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of an
advocacy workshop for members of the informal
sector that in spite of the sector’s immense
contribution to national development (employment
and revenue) members lived under harsh
conditions.

The workshop, organised by WIEGO, with the
People’s Dialogue, aimed at supporting informal
workers to explore ways of accessing support from
the government and those who profit from their
work but do not contribute to improving their
place of work.

Mrs Ansah said market women and traders were
exposed to poor ventilation systems, perennial
fire outbreak and flooding due to improper layout
of structures as well as the scorching sun putting
their lives at health risk.

However, she said indiscriminate hawking along
principal streets and security zones was
unacceptable, saying that Ghana could learn from
Thailand where they designated some days, places
and time for hawking, while some areas were
strictly prohibited for trading.

Mr Edward Adu Aboagye, Project Manager at the
Institute of Local Government Studies, also cited
Brazil where some streets were blocked on Sundays
to allow hawking activities to take place.

Mr Aboagye said there was the need for the
government to coordinate its policies and
strategies in order to support the formalization
of the sector.

Effective regulatory framework, better services,
improved business environment, and improving
access to financing and infrastructure were
essential in this process, he said.

It was crucial for informal traders to be
consulted in the decision-making process, he said,
noting that, when policymakers and city
authorities actively involved the members in the
planning and execution of programmes and projects
tax evasion and sanitation challenges facing the
nation could be reduced drastically.

Unfortunately, he said, the consultative process
in that regard was lacking in Ghana and city
authorities considered themselves as “islands”
instead of working closely with the traders to
homogenize the system.

Some members of the 40 participants taking part in
the two-day training said though street hawing or
vending was illegal in Ghana, city authorities
licensed the traders and took taxes or market
tolls from them, thereby condoning the act.

They, therefore, for called for the repeal of the
law.

The participants are expected at the end of the
programme to prioritise their needs regarding
market conditions and hawking and submit to the
Ministry of Local Government, Gender, Children and
Social Protection, as well as to Accra
Metropolitan Assembly for consideration.

Source - GNA

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