Prez directs NBSSI to give Odawna fire victims cash

Aerial view of the Odawna Market

Through the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), support is going to be provided to the over 3,000 persons affected by the Odawna Market fire outbreak, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced.

The President, who described the incident as “sad” also said that “government will undertake the re-wiring of all markets in Greater Accra to forestall such tragic occurrences in the future.”

President Akufo-Addo visited the fire scene yesterday to assess the extent of ravage caused by the fire, which eye witnesses report started at dawn on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media, the Municipal Chief Executive for Klottey Korley, Nii Adjei Tawiah said that there is a project to redevelop markets in the municipality.

He added that the profile of all traders in those markets have been put together to make it easy to work with them.

At the time The Chronicle got to the scene, firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service were present, working to completely douse the fire, however, the cause of the fire was not readily known.

Smoke had covered almost half of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle as a result of the Odawna Market, also known as the Pedestrian Shopping Mall, which was under fire.

Fortunately, no deaths or injuries have so far been recorded, but eyewitness account said large quantities of various goods belonging to traders were lost, along with huge sums of money.

This is, however, not the first time the Odawna market has caught fire. In January last year, about 80 stalls were destroyed after fire swept through the market.