Former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu has advised the new Kejetia market’s management to immediately ban all traders from cooking within the commercial zone.
His call comes after a fire recently destroyed thousands of products worth millions of cedis at the new market.
In addressing the issue, the former mayor stated that market management must have a plan in place that is followed in order to avoid future fire accidents within the enclave.
“The fire that engulfed the market you could say it was a maintenance failure. I hear there were some carbide and something that brought the fire. So you cannot blame management for that. All cooking activities should come to a halt at the new Kejetia market,” the former Mayor of Kumasi opined.
Following the March 15 fire outbreak at the plant, in addition to the shops that were directly affected, several other shops were required to close in order for a structural integrity test to be performed before they could reopen.
According to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a briefing from the Ghana National Fire Service reveals that the conflagration at the site was sparked by a fire started by a merchant cooking in the new Kejetia market.
Dr. Bawumia claims that the store owner was cooking inside her shop when the petrol cylinder she was using took fire, spreading to an adjacent chemical shop and destroying 33 of the market’s 8,000 establishments.
He went on to say that the chemical shop owner, among other things, offers combustibles such as carbide, turpentine, and gunpowder, all of which detonated.
A market vendor was arrested for cooking at the facility but was later released on bond.
As a result, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development established a 5-member commission to investigate the recent fire event.
The committee, tasked with completing its conclusions within three weeks, was formed on March 17.
