Dagombaline residents begin rebuilding structures after fire incident

Victims of Friday’s fire incident at Dagombaline, a slum settlement in the Ashanti Region have defied city authority’s directive and are rebuilding their structures.The incident led to the destruction of structures that served as homes for head porters and scrap dealers.

The victims of the fire complained that they had been sleeping in the open.The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has estimated that 13,000 people havebeen affected by the incident.

One of the slum’s residents expressed concern for the well being of the women in the community “When issues like this happen, you will see that guys take advantage of them easily and at the end of the day, you will realise that most of them are pregnant,” he said.

The recent fire incident also reminded victims of promises made by the government to provide hostels for head potters.“Every election year, they will come with lies. They will tell us lies saying they will do this and that and we give them power but at the end of the day, it is disappointment all the way,” one of the residents lamented.

Most of the residents were busily clearing the debris and rebuilding even in the presence of state authorities.A delegation led by Planning and Development Minister, Gyan Baffour and the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah was present at the site.

Mr. Osei Mensah asked the residents to hold off on rebuilding their structures pending a meeting with their leaders.“We don’t want them to immediately construct the structures as they did. They should have some spaces in between so that in case of such an emergency, we can manoeuvre and extinguish the fire quickly,” the Minister said.

The Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service also expressed concern with the lack of access to the slum whenever there is a fire in the area.