Squatters who were evicted from the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange Neoplan Bus Stop on Wednesday, May 21, have returned less than 24 hours after a major decongestion exercise by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), defying city authorities and prompting renewed action to enforce public space regulations.

The AMA had cleared the bus stop as part of its ongoing efforts to reclaim pedestrian walkways and public transit points, but officials say hawkers and squatters have returned with their wares.

Speaking to JoyNews, the Environmental Health Officer in charge of operations at AMA, Mr Joseph Asitanga, expressed his frustration at the defiance and confirmed the assembly’s swift response to the situation.

“As part of the decongestion exercise, wherever we move to, we follow up to see whether whatever we did the previous day has been complied with. It is a by-law enforcement; bus stops are not meant for activity. It is meant for only passengers to transit and it is difficult getting people out here.”

He explained that upon receiving reports of the squatters’ return, his team immediately revisited the location to deal with the matter.

“So as we enforced the laws yesterday, this morning we got a wind of that; they are back again, so we had to come. When we got here, they had resurfaced with different developments with their items, so we had to come again, clean and tidy up the place.”

The AMA maintains that the Neoplan Bus Stop must remain clear for its intended purpose, public transport, not trading or squatting.

“Our aim and agenda is to ensure that the bus stop is free. The roads and the pavements are free. This is not the market that we do marking; this is a bus stop erected by the assembly. Our concern is that the bus stop should be free,” Mr Asitanga stressed.

Read also: Decongestion Exercise Day 2: AMA clears illegal structures at Circle Neoplan

To strengthen enforcement, the Environmental Health Officer, Joseph Asitanga, has indicated that a decision has been taken to deploy three permanent guards to the Neoplan Bus Stop to forestall any possible comeback.

“The director has mandated through the National Security Coordinator to put three permanent security officers here to ensure daily routine enforcement.

"We are going to ensure that this place is as clean as it is now. Nobody will sell here; this is a bus stop. We are not demolishing anything here, but we are clearing the bus stop free of trading,” he said.