<<Print>>

The Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) has announced it will rebuild the Katamanto market which was completely burnt down on Sunday morning. The assembly has also said it has taken full responsibility of the construction of the market and will build a proper one which meets accepted standards to prevent future occurrences. Traders who sell at the market have threatened to re-build the market by themselves . The Accra Mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpiuje at a press conference on Monday said his office will ensure the best is made out of the situation. �The best out of this situation can never be anything short of the best in modernizing the market. As AMA we have plans to develop all of our markets and if this situation has happened we will quickly start rebuilding proper market.� He warned the traders not to go back to Kantamanto to begin a rebuild. He however assured the traders that the AMA will involve them in the rebuilding exercise. Mr. Vanderpuije interim, directed the affected traders to occupy unused stalls at the �Tuesday market� and the Pedestrian Shopping Mall at the Kwame NkrumahCircle. Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije assured all victims they will not be displaced in the rebuilding exercise. �We will reconstruct and modernize this place with modern markets for our traders; when the place is reconstructed all of them will return back to base, that is why we are registering them.� Market fires are common in the Ghana. The Kantamanto market fire is the seventh market to be razed down by fire in Ghana between June 2012 and May 2013. The Madina, Mallam, and the Kokompe markets were all completely burnt down last year. Some have said the fires are due to haphazard nature the markets are constructed with stalls closely attached to the other, lack of basic amenities which leads to illegal power connection and poor education on fire safety.