Reconstruction work on a new pedestrian mall, popularly known as the Odawna Market, will start tomorrow, Thursday, a week after the edifice near the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra was ravaged by fire.
Earthmoving equipment and heavy-duty trucks are expected on-site to start clearing the debris for the new market edifice, which is expected to accommodate about 4,500 traders and with facilities including stores, alleys for vehicular access and modern water closet toilets.
The Municipal Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) for Korle-Klottey, Reverend Daniel Odei-Appiah, made this known to the Ghanaian Times in Accra on Monday, adding that various stakeholders would be included in the construction of the “modern market”.
According to him, a total of 1,300 victims of the fire disaster have so far been registered by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to benefit from financial support from the government to restart their economy activities.
The Municipal Director said most of the victims had become so traumatised that some were reluctant to come over and participate in the registration exercise.
“The numbers expected to turn out for the registration is not going as estimated, which is giving us a little challenge, but we are going to do with what we have at the moment,” Rev. Odei-Appiah stated.
NADMO, he disclosed, was putting together a report on the fire incident to come up with recommendations which would make affected persons recover from the trauma and also enable those finding it difficult to come to terms with the disaster to be part of the exercise.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
