About five logs or stumps of trees have been removed at just one section of the Kejetia drains by the Fire and Rescue Service. It is still not known, as to how these logs of wood got there. And per the evidence of the stumps being taken out of the drains, everything shows that the logs were intentionally pushed into the drains by some people with malicious intention. The Kejetia market has recently been affected by flood after heavy downpour in the Kumasi metropolis last week, with properties running into thousands of Cedis destroyed. The whole administration block of the market was also flooded with computers and other equipment in the command centre carried to higher ground to prevent damage. This is the second time the market is experiencing such floods. City authorities vowed to find solution to the problem and through their search, they discovered the heavy logs buried in the drain. Consultant for the contractor on the Kumasi Kejetia-Central Market Redevelopment project, Mr Emmanuel Danso in an interview with ACCRA FM NEWS expressed shock about the discovery of stumps in the drain. “To be frank we all cannot comprehend why those stumps should be put in the drains and we had to use crane to remove them”, he said. “I suspect that, some people just want to prove a point that we didn’t build the market well but that is not the case. All the logs have been removed and we have desilted the drain to avoid any further flooding”, he added.
Traders demonstrate
Traders at the Asafo Market in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti region demonstrated last week Friday over flooded nature of the market. The aggrieved traders wore red armed band and closed their shops to demonstrate. They accused the contractor which the market has been awarded for reconstruction, of blocking waterways, leading to the flooding of the market. They said they have channeled their grievances to the necessary authorities but nothing has been done about it. They, therefore, threatened not to pay tax to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly if nothing is done about the flooded nature of the market.
We have been vindicated
But, Mr Danso believed that, the discovery of the stumps has vindicated the contractor. “We didn’t do any shoddy work regarding the construction of the Kejetia market and these heavy logs planted into the drain to block the movement of water has exposed the motive of those behind it”, he added.