I had a wonderful time meeting up
for the first time with a young
constituent of mine, Paul Ninson ,
at 'Its My Kitchen', near Baba Yara
Stadium. Great guy, very focused
and business-minded, and
destined to go places with his
ideas.
We parted company around 11pm
and I caught a taxi home. News
was that Kumasi Central Market
was on fire. I got the driver to drop
me at 'Dr. Mensah', near the central
market, where a large crowd was
milling about. In the distance,
plumes of smoke rose into the
night sky that was illuminated by
the flames.
I made my way past the Total filling
station and towards the fire. The
flashing blue lights of police
vehicles and fire tenders set
against the orange flames that were
leaping and kissing the skies. The
fire was raging in the second-hand
clothing section of the central
market (Foes Line), known as the
'18 yard'. The acrid fumes were
pervasive.
Desperate traders who had been
summoned to the scene via radio
announcements and telephone calls
tried to salvage their wares in case
and bundle them into taxis, in case
the fire spread. Those whose wares
had been destroyed seemed too
numb to speak, only muttering
'bank loans'.
The shiny new fire tenders stood
idly as the fire burned-all three of
them. They had no water.
Eventually a fourth truck turned up
with water. It had had to go to
Ejisu to refill. 20 minutes later, it
had emptied its tanks. The fire
continued to burn. The tenders still
stood, shiny, empty monuments
that represent this country in so
many ways. I saw one fireman in
wellington boots. None of them had
protective masks when they went
close to the fire to try to douse it.
Nosing around, I put the pieces
together. A small fire had started in
one of the shops around 8pm.
Despite urging, the watchman
refused to break down the locks
and insisted that he had to wait for
orders from KMA bosses first.
Eventually the fire spread to a
second shop. Gas cylinders, used
by the women to cook during the
day when they were cooking, began
to explode and the fire started
spiraling out of control.
Two questions kept popping up
around me; "Why can't we afford
firefighting helicopters in this
country? What is the point of these
shiny fire tenders if they lack ready
access to water, vital for the job of
firefighting?"
And then it dawned on me. What do
ordinary citizens see that
government officials do not see?
The fire was still burning as I left
for home. it is likely to burn for
most of the night. And the
questions are still burning in my
head.
Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng
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