Correspondence from Ashanti Region

Members of the Kumasi City Market Traders' Union ((KCMTU) have expressed joy over the decision to reopen the new Kejetia market for their daily trading activities to take place.

The traders who vehemently opposed the idea of the closure from day one, said they suggested that the affected portion should rather be closed and all other unaffected sections be allowed to operate, but their plea was not accepted.

"It was rather unfortunate that the management of the facility did not listen to our suggestion from the beginning and subsequently directed that the closure should be extended for another week".

In a press statement read by Michael Adu Gyamfi, secretary of the union, said, they were happy to hear the Vice President declaring for the reopening of the Market on Tuesday, thus after he had paid a working visit to the market on Monday.

"We are truly happy that this statement has reaffirmed our position on the closure of the market and wish to thank His Excellency the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for overturning the uninformed decision of the management," he said.

The group has also commended the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Justin Frimpong Kodua and the party for pledging to support affected persons with One Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (One Billion old cedis). According to them, the gesture will help alleviate the burden of the victims.

The group again expressed hope that investigations on the causes of the fire outbreak and recommendations put in place to prevent the recurrence of any such unfortunate incident will be swift.

The union in part of its statement also emphasized that Traders of the Kumasi City Market need selfless, dedicated and appropriate representation at the management level to see to advance the concerns and the general well-being of traders.

Lastly, the KCMTU has sent a word of caution to all traders to make sure they do not yield to any attempt by any group of people who would come round to compile their names, contacts and other details under the ploy to secure support for them.

"Such details will be used by such groups to satisfy their own interests and so traders are cautioned to be wary of any such attempts to take their details".

They insist that since Kumasi City Market Traders Union already have the data of its members, there was no need for members to reproduce their vital details available to any such groups.