The victims of the Konyokonyo fire accident today have tabled an appeal to the Government for compensation. Talking to the STAR newspaper Mr. Amin Muzamil a trader who owned a store said that the situation is a disaster to the traders and crisis to the entire town. He said that the 8th -9th March 9, 2012, fire break in the market has burned four hundred and eighty three (483) shops which worth millions of pounds. The fire turned Konyokonyo market into ashes. Hundreds of the business owners and consumers break in tears as they fear price increase in the remaining markets of Juba. The business did not get reassures that the government will compensate the destroyed properties.
The two days fire burn in the market of Konyokonyo has put the traders in helpless situation, as the fire brigades did not turn immediately for rescue. The traders said that the fire results from electric circuits break and some said it break from kitchen. The traders said that the fire proceeded from the particular shop to the nearest shop and moved to the entire market.
The traders in the market were on critical condition, they could express and even some could not imagine what has happened. Amin was among those who could raise a voice after losing more than thousands of Pounds. Amin said that he could not calculate the entire burned goods in his store. He expressed worries because most of the goods were brought a day before the accident. Women trading at the center were too desperate to talk to the media, others were on tears. The Star has managed to access, but most of them could not raise a voice, they looked at the accident as something beyond imagination. The businessmen blamed the fire brigades. They said that the Fire Brigades did not reach the ground immediately after the accident.
As the fire broke, the Traders immediately notified the Fire Brigades, and the police station, in response to the traders, the administration of Central Equatoria State under the leadership of the town Mayor Mr. Alhaji Baballa, deployed police to give protection to the rescued properties. On the 8th, few traders struggled to pull out some few things from their shops and took them to the streets, but thieves took advantage of the fire as traders were struggling to rescue their properties; thieves are grabbing from the other side. The traders called rescue of police to protect their properties, but the traders identified that the police have involved in grabbing of properties.
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