The fire outbreak incident at the Koforidua Central market has exposed the city’s dire need for a new firefighting equipment.
Mybrytfmonline.com has gathered that, the 24-year-old fire tender stationed in Koforidua sub-station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) had been grounded at a mechanic shop for months due to lack of funds for repairs.
The GNFS is struggling to raise approximately Ghc10,000 to rectify the problem, a similar predicament in 2021 when a fire tender was taken away by the Volta River Authority (VRA) to Akosombo after Koforidua Fire station failed to mobilize Ghc24, 000 for repairs but never returned.
The absence of a functional fire tender in Koforidua came to the forefront on Sunday April 4,2024 when a fierce fire erupted at the Koforidua Central Market around 5:50 PM.
The Koforidua sub-Station had to fall on another fire station to intervene to fight the fire.
However, upon arrival at the scene of the blaze, firefighters encountered difficulties as the pump failed to engage, impeding their efforts to contain the inferno at the Koforidua central market
With flames spreading rapidly, local residents joined forces with the firefighters, using buckets of water to combat the fire preventing it from engulfing the entire market.
“We have to make it clear that the equipment we are using are all old so we shouldn’t be surprise that we experience such a challenge”.ADO1 Steve Akosah told the media at the scene of fire.
The fire, suspected to have originated from an electrical fault, engulfed four shops within the market, resulting in the complete destruction of two shops and partial damage to two others. Items such as plastic utensils, takeaway packs, toilet rolls, and polythene bags were among the casualties.
Municipal Chief Executive for New Juaben South Isaac Appaw Gyasi visited the scene on Monday and cautioned against illegal electrical connections attributing to intermittent fire outbreaks being recorded in recent times in the market.
“The problem has to do with unprofessional electricians who sometimes come to conduct these wiring without any proper certification so going forward we are not going to countenance that. If anybody wants to wire his or her shop the person has to write officially to New Juaben South Municipal Assembly” Isaac Apaw Gyasi said.
The fire incidents underscored the vulnerability of the Koforidua Central Market, which is the one of the largest market in the regional but remains in a deplorable condition.
Despite years of promises of reconstruction of the market ,traders have yet to see any tangible progress.
The market queens called on NPP government to honour its promise .
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
