Dr Frank Amoakohene, Ashanti Regional Minister, has pledged to fix the shops destroyed during the recent fire outbreaks at the Kejetia market in Kumasi in two weeks.
According to him, he had already met with the management and the contractors of the market and had received assurances that the burnt shops would be repaired within the stipulated time to enable the affected traders to resume their trading activities.
Speaking to journalists after a visit to the market, Dr Amoakohene assured the traders that they would soon get their shops back to continue their trade.
The Kejetia market complex has in the last two weeks experienced two fire outbreaks, which have destroyed about five shops and many wares.
The latest one occurred on Wednesday February 12, 2025, where two shops were partially burnt down on the first floor of the market.
The two stores F3054 and F3053, which contained chemicals for the preparation of detergents and materials, were among 26 stores on the lane.
Divisional Fire Officer (II) Mr Peter Addai, Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the GNFS received a distress call at 0350 hours and immediately moved to the scene.
The fire, he said, was brought under control at 0421hrs and finally extinguished at 0441hrs with the help of fire extinguishers and hose reels to prevent the spread of the fire to other stores.
DO (II) Addai said due to the government directive to patrol various market centres across the country, the GNFS had established a Market Task Force to patrol all market centres in Kumasi and other towns in the region.
He advised traders to employ safety and fire prevention gadgets to protect their shops.
They should also be mindful of the use of electrical gadgets to help prevent the outbreak of fire at the market centres.
“We shouldn’t only focus on people coming from outside to set fire, we should also focus on correcting internal potential fire hazards,” he stated.
GNA
