The Ministry of Local Government’s investigation report into the cause of the fire that broke out in the Kejetia market in Kumasi on March 15, 2023 is being withheld, according to the Combine Traders Associations in that market.
The organization is interested in learning the reason behind the Kejetia Market on March 15, 2023.
The Association claims that making the report public will aid the market community in preventing repeat occurrences by encouraging dealers to alter their conduct.
Speaking to Captain Koda of Kumasi based Otec FM, the Association’s General Secretary, Ruben Ameh, claimed they were trying to hide their humiliation because they believed the government might be implicated in the market’s management.
The Kumasi Kejetia market tragically caught fire on March 15, 2023. The market’s upper floor was home to at least 50 businesses that were packed with products but were completely destroyed by fire.
A team made up of professionals was formed by the Local Government Ministry under the direction of Deputy Minister Osei Bonsu Amoah, often known as [O. B. Amoah], to carry out a forensic inquiry into the fire calamity.
Dan Kwaku Botwe, the Local Government Minister, has refused to make the study and its recommendations public in an effort to encourage a change in attitude among the market vendors more than five months after the Committee delivered its report to the Local Government Ministry.
The Local Government Minister has allegedly ignored all three of the letters the General Secretary of the Combine Traders Association in Kejetia submitted to the Minister asking a copy of the report.
“What are they concealing, according to the report? I believe the audit has indicted the board and the administration of the Kejetia Market for bad facilities management, he claimed.
Currently, the area of the market that caught fire has been entirely shut down for business, forcing the victims out of active business. Meanwhile, others have turned into squatters and hawkers in the market, hawking in front of their coworkers’ stores.
A victim of the fire, told media that “at the time, we have lost our capital to start business anew, but banks and goods suppliers are eager to assist us bounce back, but there’s no commitment by the government to reconstruct the stores.
We are in a terrible predicament, but what can we do? 50 business owners are struggling, as are our dependents. The party and personal donation Mr. Alan Kyeremanten given to us for housekeeping purposes from the NPP has come to an end, and we must now engage in the genuine struggle. We are pleading with the administration to rehabilitate the market.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com