COLD STORE OPERATORS AT MADINA MARKET CRY FOUL OVER LOW PATRONAGE

Source: Daniel Kwabena Asare

Some cold store operators at Madina Market, a suburb of Accra, have bemoaned the low patronage of their products.

According to them, the recent intermittent power cuts have severely affected their operations leading to huge financial losses and customer dissatisfaction. The recent intermittent power cut has been a major problem for ordinary Ghanaians. Home appliances are being destroyed, as well as interruptions of businesses, which are the sources of livelihood for many citizens.

Pan African Television’s Business Desk hit the Madina Market to ascertain the impact of the power cuts on cold store operators. A cold store operator at the Market, Ebenezer Akuffo, said purchasing ECG prepaid credit to run a cold store business alone is a big issue, amidst the hike in prices of frozen foods which has worsened their plight due to the recent intermittent power cuts. “We cannot even sleep due to complaints from our customers and thus hope the government intervenes to get the problem fixed in order for their business to survive,” he said.

A Cold Store operator at the market, Korletey Joseph Larweh, also said they have lost a lot of customers and funds over the recent power cuts. “Sometimes we go in for fishes and frozen foods like the chicken, cow, etc. only to see them rotten the next day we get to the shop due to the high level of ‘Dumsor’ in the country,” he said.

Joseph Larweh said this “cold store business” is what they do to cater for themselves and their family, so they need a clear point from the government over this ‘Dumsor’ issue since 2024 is an election year. His counterpart, Yakubu Majid, further opined that the recent power cuts have affected their business drastically. “The ‘Dumsor’ is not good for us (Cold store operators) since we are losing all our products especially the ‘chicken wings’ which can’t last for two days without being refrigerated, due to that we are losing our customers”, he lamented.

One Kilo of frozen food costs Ghc.33.00 cedis whiles the half-pound costs Ghc.17.00 cedis so we are pleading with the government for support.