The five-member Committee set up by the Minister for Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development (MLGDRD), Hon. Daniel Botwe, to probe the fire that gutted parts of the newly constructed Kejetia market in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, has presented its report to the Sector Minister.
The Committee made up of Professor Theophilus Adjei-Kumi, a lecturer at the Department of Construction Technology and Management at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as Chair, Mr. Francis Koffie-ESQ, private legal practitioner and managing director, M/S Koffie and Partners, Mr. Kofi Ampong; valuer, property manager and real estate consultant, Mr. Daniel Kwaku Denteh, deputy director general- National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and Mrs Emelia Ayebeng Botchway; regional coordinating director at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council as members.
Presenting the report, the chairman thanked the minister for the opportunity given them to do this work, which involved several engagements with several users and stakeholders of the market to arrive at its findings and recommendations.
Receiving the report, Hon. Daniel Botwe thanked the committee members for the quality of the report and their dedication, which resulted in its timely submission.
The report includes conclusions and suggestions, among other things, to prevent a repeat of the disaster and to guarantee the market is operated, maintained, and managed efficiently overall.
He assured the committee of his commitment to taking serious actions in consultation with the relevant government agencies and other stakeholders to follow through with the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report.
“Government takes a serious view of occurrences of fire disasters in major markets across the country in recent years, considering the huge investments made by government into these markets”, he added
He urged the Board and Management of the various markets to be proactive and innovative in their work to forestall any future disasters in the markets and also safeguard such national assets.
An earlier report submitted to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly indicated disclosed that the fire outbreak that happened on March 15, 2023 damaged about 42 shops out of which 12 recorded severe damages.
