Kejetia Fire outbreak: NADMO recommends suspension of business activities

Correspondence from Ashanti Region

The Ashanti regional director for the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Mr. Frank Duodu, has disclosed that discussions have been held with the management of the new Kejetia (Dubai) for operations to be closed on on Thursday.

The March 16, 2023 closure is to pave the way for measures to be put in place before traders are allowed to operate.

According to him, investigations will be carried out today to determine the number of shops affected and whether casualties were recorded.

Narrating how the information reached them, he said that it was half past four when they had the information that the New Kejetia had caught fire.

"The fire service were the first to report to the scene, and we later joined. It has burnt a number of shops, though not that much."

According to him, though they were yet to establish the real cause, the information on the ground was that the shop where the fire started was in a fire prone area due to the fact that some explosive items like turpentine, catapults, etc were sold there.

He however commended the fire fighters for being able to put the fire out on time.

Outlining measures in place, the NADMO director said heavy security will be deployed to the ground to ensure that no intruder goes into the shops at night to steal.

He finally recommended that the market should be closed down for some time on Thursday.

"We have had discussions with the management of the market. We've urged them to publication out there, activities of the market could not be carried out at early hours of tomorrow. They are yet to come out which we are recommending close to midday". He said