Woodworkers at Sokoban Wood Village in the Ashanti Region are feeling devastated and powerless following a recent fire that has severely impacted their livelihoods.

The affected traders have expressed their concerns over the destruction of their primary source of income, leaving them burdened with significant bank loans to repay.

On October 3, 2024, a fire broke out in parts of Sokoban Wood Village, destroying around 18 sheds along with their contents.

Victims of the disaster have reported feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility of repaying the loans they had taken out for their businesses.

DO3 Peter Addai, the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer for the Ghana National Fire Service, stated that investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the fire.

“We quickly had to call in other fire tenders for assistance. So together we had about four fire tenders assisting to salvage the situation.

The fire affected 18 shops that deal mainly in plywood and other wood products, and there were no casualties. We were able to salvage 32 shops,” he stated.

Some of the affected victims spoke with Channel One News, highlighting the challenges they are going through because of the incident, and vowed to vote for any political party that will come to their aid.

“I have a lot of dependents. I have children going to school, my wife, my mother. My mother is a widow. I am taking care of a lot of people, so this thing is going to affect me a lot. I can’t tell; I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t know what to do,” a worker stated.

“This is going to affect the schooling of my children; one is at Legon, one is at KNUST. How will we take care of them? The government should intervene, whether NPP, NDC, or Cheddar. Whichever party wants us to vote for them should come to our aid,” another worker stressed.