DCE assures traders in Zuarungu of transparent allocation of market stores

M David Amoah, the District Chief Executive of Bolgatanga East, has assured traders in Zuarungu that the allocation of newly constructed market stores, expected to be opened soon, will be transparent, devoid of any party affiliation. He said a committee set up for the pre-allocation of the stores would ensure that those whose stores were pulled down before the construction were considered first before new applications. The District Chief Executive, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Zuarungu, in the Upper East Region, said the committee had already prepared the list of such traders, whose stores were demolished for the construction and urged all to disabuse their minds of any speculation that the allocation would be given to party faithful. “There are 50 lockable stores, and they will be allocated on a one-on-one basis and, therefore, if anyone had even more than one store before the demolishing took place, he or she cannot be served the same number of stores,” the DCE said. Mr David Amoah said the Assembly would consult with stakeholders and the traditional authority, especially the Paramount Chief of the area, who is a member and leader of the committee, to help in the transparent allocation of the stores. The DCE also noted that the engineering unit of the Assembly would soon complete the labelling of the stores for the allocations. He said the district needed to improve on its internally generated funds (IGF) and the opening of the stores and provision of daily tickets will improve the income of the Assembly while other businesses would come up to boost development in the area. There was an earlier controversy over the market projects between the last administration, particularly the former DCE and the Member of Parliament, (MP) for the area, Dr Dominic Akuritenga Ayine over the pricing and specifications of the stores. To this end, the MP threatened to sue the former DCE Reverend Emmanuel Abugre Abole, over delay in commissioning the Market. The construction of the first phase of the market was awarded by the Ministry of Trade and Industry through the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly in 2014 and construction work began in 2015, scheduled to be completed in 2017. However, work was brought to a halt due to the preparation and commissioning of the district.