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BIRIM C: Fire consumes shops in Oda

Items worth millions of Ghana Cedis were yesterday destroyed by fire in Akim Oda in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region.

Date Created : 9/14/2021 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : Ghanadistricts.com

The fire, which started at about 8:30pm Monday destroyed about 500 shops and many other valuable properties in the market.

Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service were tirelessly working to put the fire under control and avoid its possible spread to other unaffected shops when Ghanadistricts.com visited the scene at about 9am Tuesday morning.

The cause of the fire which has brought many traders to their knees is yet to be determined.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanadistricts.com, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the area, Victoria Adu lamented on the situation, adding that a report about the actual cause of the fire will soon be made public as soon as investigations are completed.

She said the Assembly is also working closely with the National Disaster Management Organisation to support victims who have had their items destroyed.

The obviously worried MCE however, attributed the spread of the fire to lack of access routes to the market, insisting that, more items could have been salvaged by personnel from the national Fire service, if traders had not put up sheds in walkways and entrances of the market.

On his part, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akim Oda, Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah also pledged his support for the affected traders who have lost their itiems in the fire outbreak.

Touching on the Akufo Addo-government’s efforts to support small scale businesses in the country, the MP reiterated that plans are underway to get the victims back to business.

He commended personnel from the fire service and other security agencies for their timely response which went a long way to help avert the fire from escalating.

Meanwhile, the Birim Central National Disaster Management Organization is calling on individuals and private organizations to come to the aid of these victims.