We are not liable for exhibitor’s goods -Trade Fair authorities

The Ghana Trade Fair Company says it will not bear liability for any exhibitors items destroy through fire or any other such hazards during the fair.

Mr Lawson Gidigasu, General Manager, Operations, told the media on Sunday that although the GTFC had insured all its structures against fire and other natural disasters, this did not extend to the individual exhibits of participants at the fair.

Mr Gidigasu was reacting to a fire outbreak that swept through the stand of Customer Company Limited, dealers in textiles and garments at the wings of Pavilion D, early Sunday morning.

He said it was in the GTFC's bid to minimize any loss to exhibitors in the event of any such unforeseen occurrences that the company at a meeting with the exhibitors advised them to individually insure their wares against such dangerous occurrences. According to him, all exhibitors who had failed to obtain insurance cover for their wares would have to bear the full cost of their loss in the event of an accident.

The Managing Director of the Customer Company, Mr Kofi Amoakohene said there were items worth 800 million cedis in the stand at the time of the incident but said it would take sometime to determine the actual cost of loss to the fire.

He was grateful to the GTFC authorities, whom he said had offered to repair the damaged stand. Every effort to get the authorities of the Ghana Fire Service at the fair grounds to explain what exactly happened proved futile since most of the officers maintained that they could not speak for their colleagues who fought the fire because they had all left for home after their night duties.