Government has assured traders whose shops were burnt at the Kantamanto Market that they will be given the first option of occupancy after the market is re-constructed. The traders have been agitating since the market got burnt fearing they may not have access to the market if government steps in to develop it. The traders have threatened to go to court to stop government and city authorities from taking over the market. Chief Patron of the Used Clothing Association of Ghana, Charles Allen-Gyimah, said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has arbitrarily taken the decision to re-construct the market without seeking the opinion of the traders. One of the traders whose shop got burnt produced documents indicating that land was leased to her mother by the Railway Corporation for 21 years. But government on Tuesday told the traders in a meeting that they would not be disadvantaged in anyway after re-construction. Deputy Information Minister Felix Ofosu Kwakye, addressing the media on Tuesday, said “the claim that government was selling the land to a Chinese developer is absolutely untrue” urging the traders to disabuse their minds of that notion. He said government is willing to assist them in any way that it can to ensure that their plights are alleviated and to get their lives back on track. “We will not leave the traders at a disadvantage”, he stressed. According to him as occupants of the market, the traders will be given the first option of occupancy. Meanwhile, a swift intervention by firefighters prevented another major fire outbreak near the State Transport Company Limited (STC) bus terminal at Tudu in Accra. The cause of the fire last night is not yet known. But Police Director of Human Resource, DCOP Patrick Timbilla said firefighters were able to overpower the fire because there was access. He said that unlike the Kantamanto market fire, the Makola Market one was easily to control because the fire scene was accessible. He also commended the Makola traders for their co-operation. "We asked them to move out, they moved out we doused the place with water and everything was okay" he stated.