Yet to be commissioned Ho Central Market stores have become scenes of filth, obscenity and stench.
Some deranged individuals have been dumping refuse inside some of the buildings and in non-designated areas, creating a sanitary situation that threatens the health of thousands that throng the market.
A GNA tour of the commercial centre of Volta Region's capital city, saw unoccupied spaces becoming dumping centres, including the stair areas of some Storey buildings, and the eerie corridors of the upper floors.
The GNA was told that mentally ill persons contracted to collect refuse in the market were responsible for the unusual siting.
Traders talked about how the developing situation affected their work, which showed a lack of authority and security at the multi-million market centre.
'When you come here in the afternoon, the heat is unbearable,' one whose shop is right adjacent the sceptic tank for one of the buildings, and which had been turned into an incinerator, lamented.
Storm drains are fast becoming open urinals, and the refuse dumps; are sites for open defecation.
Sumaiya, a dealer in exotic fabrics who recently set up shop at the market, narrated her ordeal in the unsanitary environment.
'There are urinals over there, but people are using the drains here to pee. The stench is very disturbing'.
Other unusual refuse spots found in and around the market, are said to be created by these 'mad' men, whose services are patronised by some traders.
The prevalence of criminals and miscreants who loft in the unused upper floors is already a long-standing challenge to the market modernisation project, which was made possible through a secondary cities initiative of the Government of France.
A long line of urine that is bleaching the disability access ramp to the largest building, shows constant urination and is producing an unbearable stench.
Comfort, a dressmaker who was the only one working among the long, forlorn corridor of stores, told of how owners of the various units abandoned them to trade on the ground floor.
'All these stores have become warehouses, and it is affecting patronage of business here. And because nobody comes here, people come here to pee and do other stuff'.
The dressmaker would call for more access ways to the infinity corridors of the upper floors, to make them more attractive to the public.
A few mentally ill persons could be seen loitering around the market, mostly near the refuse they had accumulated.
A member of the market management committee who spoke to the GNA admitted the situation was an eyesore and that efforts were being made to address the issue.
Yet a food vendor at the entrance to the polluted stair area, said authorities showed neglect.
'We have been complaining to the Council but there has been no response. The mad guy is taking GHC 1 and heaping the refuse there. Every day the authorities see him, but they don't do anything about it. Every morning he goes to sweep and then dump the refuse there'.
The said madman, reportedly notorious who limps on a stick, is said to abuse anyone who dares question his waste management methods.
'He tried setting fire to the refuse inside the building, and we had to stop him'.
Mr. Lawrence Senya, Municipal Environmental Health Officer, told the GNA, 'This is a situation we are grappling with.
Because these people are not sane, we are having difficulty controlling them,' he said, adding that the market was not totally enclosed.
'We are yet to get full enclosure of the market, and it should have been done by November, but the metal gates are not fully installed. We are sure by January ending we should get around it'.
He noted how some officers of the Environmental Health Department and cleaners from the Municipal Assembly had been supporting sanitation at the market.
Mr Senya said there were some considerations to engaging the various market associations to take up the cleaning.
The Ghana Journalists Association, Volta Chapter, with its allies some years ago undertook a clean-up exercise at the Central market, which was gasping under filth.
Source: Ghana News Agency
