Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, together with the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, and the Mayor of Kumasi, Mr. Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, has visited victims of the fire outbreak at the Kumasi Central Market.
The fire, which occurred last Friday night, razed down about 15 shops and stores to ashes.
According to the Minister, he got word of the sad occurrence while on the Accounting to the People tour with President John Dramani Mahama in the Bono Region.
He said he had to rush down on the instructions of the President to ascertain the extent of damage and to engage the affected victims on how they could be supported to return to business. The Minister noted that the delay in the completion of the Kumasi Central Market redevelopment project is partly responsible for the persistent fire outbreaks in the market.
He assured the victims that the contractor would return to site to complete all three Phases of the market soon. Minister Ayariga expressed concern over the failure of shop occupants to properly maintain their wiring systems and the use of cheap and substandard electrical materials, and advised them to always engage qualified professional electricians.
He commended the Ghana National Fire Service for containing the fire and preventing it from spreading further and thanked God that no life was lost. The Metro Fire Officer, D.O. I Thomas Asiedu, informed the Minister that they suspect the outbreak was caused by unreliable power supply and outages, as well as the failure of some shop owners to switch off their electrical gadgets before leaving the market.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, assured the victims that he would task the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to take stock and compile the names of all affected persons and brief the sector Minister and the President to assess the kind of support needed to assist them.
He entreated traders in the market to be each other’s keepers and to ensure that all electrical appliances are switched off at the close of each working day before leaving the market.
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