At least one person reported to have died, and 56 shops blazed to ashes in Konyo Konyo market, destroying unaccounted merchandize goods and thousands of cash.
The fire incident in the center of Konyo Konyo market has raise concern about the public safety in one of the busiest marketplaces in Juba.
President Kiir in his message to the traders and citizens who lost properties sympathized with them. Kiir also directed the Juba municipal city council and relevant security agencies to thoroughly investigate the cause of fire. He urged them to assess the extent of damage and come up with preventive measures to prevent future such incident.
Followed the after mass of fire, the governor of Central Equatorial Gen. Augustino Jadalla, Kamilo responded to the directives and constituted a fact finding committee that will report to his office within 14 days on the next course of action.
Hon. Gerald Francis is the minister of information and communication in Central Equatoria state. He confirms the death of one person attributed to Thursday fire incident in Konyo-Konyo market.
He also said the seven-member committee's goal is to assess the damage and help guide the state's recovery efforts, but said they are not in apposition to provide names of committee members because they are bound with principle of confidentiality.
" In such an issue, we will not be in a position to give you who are those, but you will get them there on the ground. The number will be seven members of the committee."
He pledge that they are going to take a drastic step to organize the market so that it ensure nothing of such kind ever happens again.
The detailed of how the fire started was reported to have originate from a salon cause by an electrical spark and rapidly spread to the nearby shops but access for emergency responders were hindered by street vendors that blocked the road for firefighters and rescuers to reach the site.
"The roads there were blocked by street vendors, and this is really a problem," Francis stressed.
He said the fire brigade arrived, but they could not get direct access to the shops that were engulfed by fire as they tried from other sides, but the roads were blocked.
"We want our people to hear from here, that when the government says, please don't sit on the road, don't occupy the reserve land. This is really very important so that we don't repeat such incidents,” he asserted.
Hon. Wani Tom Sebit, the minister of trade and industry in Central Equatoria highlighted the challenges of assessing the full extent of the damage.
"We are moving in the market, but you cannot ascertain exactly who has lost what but the committee will now ascertain and determine who has lost what."Sebit stated.
He said the government is committed to supporting those affected and is working closely with the local chambers of commerce to identify the traders who need assistance.
The state government is standing with this situation, and it is hopeful that all that has happened, something will be done to help, Sebit assured.