The Director General of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), Mr. Yusupha M. Jobe, has disclosed that the recent market fire incidences resulted in irreparable loss of goods and properties.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a one-day sensitization forum on ‘Electrical safety for markets on the developed and approved national electrical wiring standards’, held in Mansakonko, Lower River Region, Jobe stressed that understanding the causes, socioeconomic and environmental impacts of market fire outbreaks are multifaceted and critical, which would prompt them to reflect on the recent incidents such as the 2008 Serekunda market fire, 2014 Albert Market (in Banjul), 2020 Basse Market and Brikama Markets fire outbreaks, respectively.
“All these instances resulted in the irreparable loss of goods and properties. In some instances, buildings were destroyed. A significant amount of investment went up in smoke within hours. Sadly, people’s livelihoods were decimated in minutes”, he lamented, adding that the resources of income and livelihoods of the victims were totally cut off and they and their families traumatized forever.
Noting that victims of these incidences usually are resentful and severely enraged by the scenario, Jobe pointed out that even though the causes of fire outbreaks in markets are hardly or instantly established, there is strong evidence that poor electrical connections, overloaded circuits, and lack of maintenance continue to pose the greatest risks.
The PURA boss however, expressed their belief that, that all-important gathering in Mansakonko would give them an insight into the market fire outbreaks, their causes, and the frequency of occurrences for the adoption of preventive measures. He informed the participants that the convergence aimed to create a platform that would introduce them to innovative ideas with a view to harnessing shared best practices critical to safety precautionary measures relevant to modern electrical wiring and installation standards.
The Governor of LRR, Mrs. Rohey John-Manjang in her remarks, described incidences of market fire outbreaks nowadays as becoming more threatening, which hasn’t spared any region.
The Regional Governor added that the country is now worried about the sequence of the market fire outbreaks.
John-Manjang brought to mind last year’s incident in her region which, she said, has prompted key stakeholders to look into the incident, to work on remedies which would be utilized to avert such occurrence.
“Market fires affect the lives and livelihoods of the people. It can reduce a rich person to the poorest in his or her community within a blink of an eye. We already have the problem of market fires, we have to look into measures and come up with sustainable solutions”, the Governor enjoined.
She reiterated that the primary cause of market fire outbreaks is associated to electrical fault, which is usually committed by some individuals who bypass the standards, thus putting many people at risk of losing their livelihoods for good.
Madam John-Manjang posited the need to sensitize the populace on the standards set out in the developed and approved national electrical wiring standards, to ensure that the standards are respected and maintained, and also to ensure that defaulter would be punished accordingly.
Hailing the meeting as timely, she expressed hope that it would pay dividends in their efforts to fight and combat market fire outbreaks.
