Market women assured of government’s support

Market women assured of government’s support

The Ghanaian Times, Wednesday, January 9, 2008. Page 27 (Business)

Kwadwo Affram-Asiedu, Eastern Regional Ministers, has pledged the government’s support for market women in the New Juaben Municipality. He said the government recognises the contribution of the informal sector to the economy and would, therefore, ensure that opportunities such as loan facilities were made accessible to them.

Mr. Afram- Asiedu gave this assurance here on Monday when he in the company of the Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Kwesi Adjei-Boateng and other officials of the assembly including the various market queens, visited stalls and sheds at the Central and Juaben Serwa markets to interact with them.

Activities at the market almost came to a halt as some of the women, who were happy by the visit of them, hugged and spread their cover cloths on the ground for the Minister to walk on. They expressed gratitude saying, it was the first time a regional minister has visited and interacted with them in the market and urged him to use his office to speed up renovation of the market.

Nana Adjei-Boateng in response to their request said the assembly was planning to put up a new market complex with a modern car park to ease congestion in the municipality. He told them that the leaking roofs of their stores would be repaired and explained that it would not be feasible to expand the market since that would compound the congestion in town.

Nana Adjei-Boateng advised the women to form co-operatives to form so that they could access the micro-finance and small loans to expand their businesses. –GNA