Effective policing of markets required to ensure compliance and safety – GUTA

The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) is advocating for effective market surveillance to avert rampant loss of wares and properties in the instance of fire outbreaks.

This comes after a fire outbreak recently gutted parts of the Kejetia market at Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

According to the Association, both old and new markets across the country have often been impacted by fire outbreaks which result in loss of lives, wares and properties amounting to millions of Ghana Cedis.

In a statement issued by the President of the Association noted, “effective policing of markets by the authorities will be the best way to ensure safety and security of the market places rather than only collecting levies and leaving traders to their fate.”

“We have observed with great concern that our markets-both old and new ones have been experiencing frequent fire outbreaks with varied reasons for a couple of years now, which, indeed is heartbreaking and needs to be stopped as it takes a chunk of our business resources and drains our economies as members of the trading community,” the statement added.

GUTA further called on the Board and Management of markets across the country to conduct independent investigations into the actual cause of fire outbreaks and put in place effective mechanisms to forestall further recurrence in the future.

The trade body added that marketplaces across the country must be well insured against risks such as fire outbreaks among other disasters.

“GUTA is engaging some insurance companies in serious negotiations to start insuring members of the trading community in the markets based on a memorandum of understanding that will be beneficial to all in the event of such unforeseen calamity,” the statement concluded.

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