The Kumasi Kejetia Traders Association has accused management of the market of sleeping on the job.

The association is, therefore, calling on government to sack the management and dissolve the board of the market. 

Speaking at a press conference held in Kumasi, today, Wednesday, 29 March 2023, Secretary of the association, Reuben Amey, noted that traders are becoming impatient with the management of the market.

“The fact of the matter is that traders who are affected, the 807 traders, are becoming impatient. Frustration is setting in. Once frustration is setting in, once you’re frustrated, you do things that you’re not supposed to do.

“Number two, you said we walked out of a meeting. Nobody called us for a meeting. They called us for a meeting, we went in and realised it was a press conference so how do you expect us to be there?” the secretary of the traders association quizzed.

According to the association, it has documents to prove that a year ago, the authorities of the market were warned against any fire outbreak, as it would be devastating.

“Fire Service warned them three consecutive times they didn’t do anything about it so nobody can be trumpeting today to be a lover of the market,” the secretary of the association noted. 

He indicated that they spoke about: “Fire extinguishers that were expired, sprinklers that were not working, smoke detectors that couldn’t detect smoke before they were covered up, the pumping machine that was supposed to pump water for the fire extinguishing and then for the sprinklers that was faulty that they should work on it, all of them they spoke about it and they did nothing about all of them. When the fire started, it took 15 minutes for the pressure pump to come on. It took 30 minutes for the sprinklers to start working. There was no alarm, there was no single alarm telling us that fire was coming, so what are they talking about?”

The association is wondering why the management and board are still holding their current positions when, according to the association, they have been sluggish on the job. 

“By now they should have resigned. We’re surprised. Is it that they have no shame? I don’t get it. Why are they still in the office? By now they should [have] go[ne] so if they’ll not go, we’re calling on the higher authorities let them go. They can’t just do the work. Let them go and let new hands come," they said. 

The association also disputed the report of the investigation into the recent fire, part of which revealed that a woman was cooking leading to the fire.

The secretary said: “So far as we’re concerned, nobody should tell us the woman was cooking, that’s what sparked the fire. No. They should talk to the fire service. The fire service knows exactly what sparked the fire.”

The association believes that there were chemicals at one of the shops which could have caused the fire as well. 

“The woman was selling chemicals, right? Another person selling chemicals has communicated to us that the chemicals they sell, if one comes in contact with another chemical it is possible for it to spark fire. So have you looked at that angle? If you’ve not looked at that angle, how then do you say the person was cooking? So for the long time that the person has been cooking there what did the management do about it?" he questioned. 

The secretary of the trader’s association added: “It shows how incompetent, how sluggish they’ve been on the job. They’ve not been working, so they should get up and work and stop these things they’ve been telling us.”