The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has expressed his deepest condolences to the victims of Sunday morning's fire outbreak at the Kantamanto market, which, according to reports, affected a greater part of the market.

Nana Addo described it “as a very sad day in the history of Ghana” and charged the relevant authorities to put in place the necessary measures to forestall the occurrence of such disasters.

According to statistics from the Ghana National Fire Service, the country, barely two weeks into 2013 had recorded 265 fire disasters, with the central market of Kumasi being the latest market to experience a fire outbreak barely a week ago.

Nana Akufo-Addo bemoaned what appeared to be a high frequency of fire outbreaks, especially occurring in markets in the country in recent times, calling for immediate steps to arrest the problem, adding that this “calls for a standardised strategic plan in designing markets in the country to prevent the incessant fire outbreaks.”

He said aside the major role entrepreneurs in such commercial markets played in the growth of the economy of the country, they were also the major bread winners of their various families and that when such disasters occurred, they tended to have serious repercussions on both the economy and families.

He suggested that the Ghana Institution for Engineers, Ghana Institution of Architects, Architectural Engineering Services Limited (AESL) and the Ghana National Fire Service must come together in designing the markets in order to prevent such outbreaks which had caused damage to property, lives and loss of livelihood to many entrepreneurs in these markets over the years.

“There have been too many fire outbreaks in our markets lately, and it is high time we took serious steps to bring the situation under control. I am making a passionate appeal to the relevant authorities, especially the Institutes of Engineers, Architects and Planners, to come out with innovative plans for the construction of modern prototype markets that will make it difficult for the recurrence of these fires,” Nana Addo noted.

Nana Addo consoled victims of the Kantamanto fire disaster on the loss of their wares and prayed that the Almighty God would see them through.