On Monday September 13 2021, Fire gutted the Akim Oda Central Market in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region.
Property worth thousands of Ghana cedis belonging to traders were lost in the inferno.
The traders relocated to the main road to do business as the market was badly affected by the fire which authorities assured of giving it a facelift with a reconstruction work.
However, some market women have expressed worries over negligence of the reconstruction of the Akim Oda Central Market as nothing has been done on it since September last year.
Speaking to Ahenkan News, they lamented how unsafe the current state of the market is to the people around the area.
They say whenever there is a strong wind, some of the aluminium roofing sheets at times gets removed forcefully which if it flies to where human beings are they could be disaster.
‘Whenever it wants to rain and there is a strong wind, the roofing removes as the nails are all weak because of the fire, so what will happen if it comes close to human beings’ One of the women said in twi.
Despite not selling in the market for sometime, the women said they still pay their normal dues for the maintenance of the market with ticket payment.
They accused the Municipal Assembly for doing nothing with those monies.
According to some of them, they expect the assembly to do more in terms of hygiene and security, in and around the market.
‘When it rains here becomes unhygienic place for foods because here becomes muddy and the scent together with the flies from the rubbish container that has been left unattended to for months is a worry’ Another trader revealed.
‘The security here is very bad. We pay watchman fee but our things get stolen everyday, then why are we paying the fee?’ A trader questioned.
They therefore called on the Government and the Akim Oda Municipal Assembly to fast track the plans for the burnt Akim Oda Central Market.
Listen to the market women in the audio below:
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh
