Many of our major markets in the country are prone to fire, such that almost all of them have been gutted by fire over the last two years.
The situation was particularly alarming last year when the Kantamanto, Makola Number Two, Madina and Tamale markets were destroyed by fire.
These fires were particularly ferocious, with the Kantamanto Market being reduced to ground zero, while many of the traders elsewhere lost their livelihoods.
The devastation and deprivation caused by the market fires were so alarming that the government sought international assistance to get to the bottom of the matter.
That was after the government had tasked committees and the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to investigate the circumstances that led to the fires at markets in Takoradi, Kumasi, Accra and Tamale.
Investigations by US experts into the Kumasi Central Market fire were inconclusive, as people were said to have gone to the site to destroy essential evidence.
In 2013, about 4,500 traders were affected by the market fires in Kumasi and Accra, prompting the government to offer them assistance to restart their businesses.
When we thought the market fires were becoming a thing of the past, Ghanaians woke up last Wednesday to be greeted by the news that an inferno had engulfed parts of the Kumasi Central Market.
It is instructive that once again the Ashanti Regional Fire Officer, Mr Philip Arhin-Mensah, has warned that more fires are likely to gut the Kumasi Central Market if no concrete steps are taken to attain safety standards at the market.
The GNFS has come up with guidelines to forestall the spate of fires in our markets but it appears that nobody is paying heed.
The firemen, who were deployed to the Kumasi Central Market, complained of lack of access to the fire scene, hence their inability to put out the fire on time.
This situation is not peculiar to the Kumasi Central Market, as all our markets lack access to enable emergency agencies to respond promptly to distress calls.
The GNFS last year came out with a chilling report on the state of our markets.
It said electrical wiring of the markets left much to be desired, as wires were exposed, while traders who dealt in combustible materials set naked fires to cook and perform other duties.
The metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies under whose jurisdictions the markets fall have a wide range of bye-laws that prohibit these negative practices but they have failed to enforce the regulations.
Basic items such as fire extinguishers are lacking in our markets and so the traders are unable to fight the fires before calling for assistance from firefighters.
The fire officials say they have made the reports available to the district assemblies that have formed task forces to patrol the markets to ensure that traders abide by the fire safety standards.
The Daily Graphic calls on the statutory authorities to sit up and ensure that fire safety standards are strictly respected and those who flout the regulations are brought to book to serve as a deterrent to all deviants.
