Kosi Yankey-Ayeh granting an interview to journalists at the scene of the fire outbreak
THE NATIONAL Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has set November 27, 2020 as deadline for the registration of traders who were adversely affected by the fire that razed the Odawna Pedestrian Shopping Mall near the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra on Wednesday, November 18, 2020.
The registration exercise, which began on Saturday, November 21, was to allow for the gathering of information on victims in order to enable the NBSSI provide the appropriate financial support for traders as they make economic recovery from the disaster.
As at Monday, November 23, 2020, about 1,743 victims had been registered, awaiting support from government.
Executive Director of NBSSI, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, gave the information on Monday when she visited the scene.
“We started registering them, it is still ongoing; we want to get a good database and get to know the specific needs of the traders. We want to provide the right assistance to each and every one that registers. Apart from that, the data will help in future planning to meet the needs of the market.
“So, we are carefully doing the registration and when we get the data we will quickly process and disburse the funds. Already some of them are not having it easy; we would want to quickly provide them some relief. We are getting close to Christmas and it is a big deal for them to make some money from the festive season,” she said in an interview.
After the registration, the NBSSI team, she said, would conduct an assessment on the applications to understand their business operations and effectively determine the level of support to be provided.
President Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 paid a visit to the scene of the disaster where he commiserated with affected traders for their loss and also directed the NBSSI to support victims with needed funds to help the affected traders recover from their losses.
He also indicated that the government would undertake re-wiring of all markets in the Greater Accra region to forestall such tragic occurrences in the future.
By Issah Mohammed
.