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The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development has inaugurated a 5-member committee to probe the recent fire incident at the new Kejetia market in Kumasi.
The committee which has been tasked to make its findings ready within three weeks was constituted on March 17.
The committee is being chaired by a lecturer at the Department of Construction Technology and Management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor Theophilus Adjei-Kumi.
Speaking to the media after inaugurating the committee, Minister of State In-Charge of Local Government, Osei Bonsu Amoah, noted that all relevant stakeholders with information would be made to appear before the committee to testify.
“They are supposed to bring their findings and recommendations within three weeks. We have a valuer, lawyer, Deputy director general of NADMO, Regional Coordinating director as secretary, so its a very powerful team to ensure that at least we get to the bottom of this matter. All relevant stakeholders will be called to appear on the committee,” he said.
With some traders who operate closer to the epicentre eager to engage in their usual activities, Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah urged them to tread cautiously.
“If we have to go by the initial technical advice, we have to be very cautious, especially for safety reasons. The safety of persons and the facility is paramount. People cannot take the laws into their own hands,” he warned.
In a related development, the leadership of traders at the new Kejetia Market has issued a three-day ultimatum to the management and the board of the facility to conduct necessary tests to allow some over 800 shops that were not directly affected by the recent fire to be opened for business.
Following the March 15 fire outbreak in the facility, aside from the shops that were directly affected, some other shops were asked to be closed down for a structural integrity test to be conducted before being allowed to operate.
The traders have however bemoaned the pace at which that exercise is being conducted.
Speaking at a news conference at the market, the Secretary of the combined traders association, Reuben Amey called on the management and board of the market to avail themselves for broader stakeholder consultation in order to address issues related to the market as early as possible.
“It’s about butter and bread issue now, we are giving them that time again, we are giving them three days to do what they are supposed to do, and we expect that by Saturday a decision would have been taken. We don’t expect that come Monday things will remain same. Let leadership prevail, start talking because we traders are also stakeholders in this issue,” he said.
Below are the details on the Kejetia market committee
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