Economic situation worsening after removal of police barrier - Asankare-Barrier traders lament

Correspondence from Ashanti Region

Some residents and traders at Asankare-Barrier, a suburb of the Asante Akim South District of the Ashanti region have complained bitterly over the removal of a police post that served as a checkpoint for drivers.

According to the worried residents, Asankare-Barrier which is a town on the Kumasi- Accra main road witnessed a business upsurge when there was a police checkpoint. They said, the checkpoint brought some level of disciplinary movement amongst drivers, and this in turn made sellers transact business with passengers which helped them a lot.

"We don't know why the I.G.P. ordered the removal of the police checkpoint. This Suburb of Asankare is called Barrier, not for any other reason but because there was a barrier serving as a checkpoint for police. We were getting our daily bread from the sales we made when there was a bit of a traffic jam. Now we live in difficulty due to the removal of the barrier". Ante Alice, a trader who used to sell by the roadside told GhanaWeb.

Another woman who gave her name as Akua Comfort said, the decision by the government and other stakeholders to remove the police barrier has badly affected people within the area, economically.
"Already we are suffering, and the little things we do to survive have been taken away from us. We don't know why we must vote for our own NPP party and end up suffering in their hands", she lamented.



Meanwhile, some NPP polling station executives who spoke to GhanaWeb on the development, disclosed that the removal of the barrier has led to people making mockery of them. According to the NPP executives, people now insult them for looking on for the government to collapse their businesses.

"In fact, we don't know the kind of message we may carry to convince the electorates during a general election. They blame the NPP government for collapsing their businesses and they sometimes attack us.

"Now if you are a known polling station executive, there is no peace of mind. Dare enter a place where three or more people have gathered and see the kind of humiliation you will receive". They said.



Some of these NPP polling station executives who spoke to GhanaWeb on condition of anonymity have however appealed to the government and the I.G.P. to immediately reconsider the decision, and bring back the police checkpoint to bring sanity, discipline and economic well-being.

According to them, apart from the economic well-being the police barrier brought to the people, the presence of the police prevented thieves and also brought discipline among drivers on the road.