-Call for probe
Frustrated business owners whose business houses gutted fire on early Monday, 15 March at the Vamuyam Conneh general market in the commercial district of Vai Town suspect hidden hands are behind the destruction of their business entities. They want government to speedily investigate the matter.
Though the victims did not point accusing fingers at any particular person, they disclosed how in recent time there had been confusion between some members of the Conneh market regarding the land on which the market situates.
Madam Kofadee Thomson, Dorothy Washington, Samuel Kollie, and Francis Lawson believe that their business houses may have been set ablaze by one of the aggrieved parties based on the manner in which the incident happened.
There have been no independent confirmation from the Conneh family in connection with the fire incident.
Mr. VamuyamConneh represents the Via Town district in the House of Representatives.
According to them, what was so astonishing to them is that if the fire was as a result of an electrical problem onthe market premises, it should have affected several businesses situated in the same environment, but thta was not the case.
According to them, it is not possible that the fire could burn their stores but a big warehouse that is very close to the affected business structures was never affected by the blazing fire which started around 3:00 AM Monday into daylight without spreading to other parts of the market.
“We strongly believe that this fire wasn’t caused by electrical shock. What we know is that someone is responsible for this ugly and frustrating nightmare that left all of our business houses completely destroyed. Why should they target us who have nothing to do with their conflict”, they aggrieved marketers lament.
They not to until they find out who set their business entities on fire to avoid a repeat at the Conneh general market where low income Liberian entrepreneurs are struggling to support their families.
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The marketers wondered where they are going to source funding from to restart their businesses at the time the country is going through economy constrains and that no bank will be prepared to provide loans to the affected businesses without guarantors.
On Monday, 15 March 2021, while owners of business houses operating at the Conneh general market in Vai Town were at their respective homes, fire attacked scores of business houses, leaving at least over US$1M properties and goods destroyed.
The owners of the affected business entities did not had the opportunity to take penny out of their business establishments during the fire outbreak.Up to now, authority of the Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS) are yet to establish cause of the fire incident that left many Liberians in tears.
