Melcom opens shopping mall at Achimota

Melcom Group of Companies has inaugurated a magnificent shopping mall to resume business in the area, five years after its rented building at Achimota in Accra collapsed, claiming 14 lives and leaving scores injured.

The four-storey facility was opened for business yesterday, after the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, cut the tape to inaugurate the mall.

The opening of that edifice brings to 38 the number of outlets the company has in the country since it began operation in the Accra central business area in 1989.

Currently, Melcom has branches in all the regional capitals and some metropolitan areas, with a resolve to expand its business to strategic locations across the districts in the coming years.

Safety

At the colourful ceremony to inaugurate the building, Mr Ahomka-Lindsay underscored the need for all business entities to put in place structural and security measures within their premises to guarantee the safety of patrons.

“Retail business entities need to upgrade their physical infrastructure and meet all the requirements for operation because if we can thrive in the retail sector, we need to have a safe and secure environment,” he stressed.

He said improving the domestic retail sector formed an integral part of the government's industrialisation policy for which reason it was important for companies to incorporate safety mechanisms into their management systems.

He lauded the contribution made by Melcom in the retail industry over the years, saying the company was a strategic partner to the government's agenda to create more jobs for the youth.

Mr Ahomka-Lindsay urged local companies in the retail business to take note of the made-in-Ghana agenda by the government, stressing “I want to encourage you to make use of local products so as to grow the domestic economy.”

Quality assurance

Touching on the safety requirements for the building, the Communications Director of Melcom Group of Companies, Mr Godwin Avenorgbor, said all structural and safety requirements were adhered to in putting up the edifice.

“The processes we went through to get this (structure) built were meticulous because the lessons of the past have taught us to be more prudent, assertive and security conscious in demanding for the kind of quality we need to ensure that we operate in a safe environment.

“This shop is not a rented premise as was the case a few years ago. We engaged with experts, including engineers and architects, before putting up the building so there are no structural defects of any kind. So, as for this particular building, nothing can bring it down,” he said.

He said the company was putting in place strategies to expand its operations to the districts and rural parts of the country to create more employment opportunities for the youth.

Recount

Previously, Melcom Group of Companies operated its Achimota branch in a rented building.

On November 7, 2012, the six-storey building collapsed, killing 14 people and injuring 81 others.

Following the incident, security personnel, including officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the National Ambulance Service, worked day and night to rescue people from the debris.

An eight-member rescue team from Israel, together with a sniffer dog, also came to the country to help with the rescue operation.

Subsequently, the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE) set up an 11-member committee, led by Professor Samuel Innocent Kofi Ampadu, to investigate the cause of the collapse of the building.

The committee established that the building materials used were substandard for a structure of that magnitude.

Lack of adequate reinforcement in the columns of the building and low concrete strength at the base were cited as part of the factors which led to the collapse of that building.