Traders at the Makola Shopping Mall are calling on the government to make financial commitments directly to them, if any, but not through the managers of the market, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
The traders contend that if any relief package is handed to SSNIT for onward compensation, they will never receive it. Therefore, it must be made directly to them.
On October 20, parts of the Makola Shopping Mall were gutted by a late-night blaze, resulting in the destruction of about 200 makeshift structures and wares worth millions of Ghana cedis.
Some of the traders also complained of unfair treatment in times like this and called on the government to engage them directly this time around.
“The last time there was fire here, they didn’t pay us and I don’t know if someone is more Ghanaian than the other because others are paid and others are not paid and so if there is something that the government will want to give us, it should not pass through SSNIT because it will not get to us, it should come directly to us.”
