Govt approves funds for reconstruction of Kumasi Central Market
The government has approved $175 million for the reconstruction of the first phase of the Kumasi Central Market.
The reconstruction of the market, which is expected to begin in the next two months, will be executed in three phases.
Announcing this at a public forum in Kumasi last Tuesday, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Kojo Bonsu, said the reconstruction project was a collaboration between the Ghanaian and the Brazilian governments.
Answering questions from the public, he explained that the funding had already been secured for the project.
The forum dubbed: Government for the people (G4P), which would be held in all the regional capitals, was organised by the government to bring governance to the door steps of the people.
It was on the theme: ‘People matter, everybody matters, you matter’.
Soil test
Currently, he said, the contractors were testing the soil for its composition to determine the sort of materials to use.
Contrary to apprehensions that the current occupants might not get sheds or stores when completed, Mr Bonsu allayed those fears and said there would be more stores than there were now “so no one will be excluded from the allocation.”
Besides, he announced that the KMA would organise a stakeholder’s meeting involving all the Members of Parliament (MPs) from the metropolis, traders and other concerned people to discuss the way forward.
He said all the traders who currently had stores in the market would have their biometric data recorded to ensure that when the time came for allocation, “we will be sure that they are the rightful people.”
Background
The reconstruction of the market has become necessary following the recurrent fire incidents that have occurred at the market resulting in loss of cash and wares as well as state resources used in quenching the fire and resettling the victims.
Since the beginning of this year, the market has recorded four fire outbreaks rendering more than 2,000 traders jobless and destroying items running into millions of Ghana cedis.
Access to the market during the fire outbreak has been one of the major challenges for personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service and, thereby, delaying the response time to fire outbreaks.
