Shs7bn medical equipment burnt in Joint Medical Stores fire- management

The Management of Joint Medical Stores has said they have lost medical equipment worth shs7 billion in the fire that gutted one of their stores in Industrial Area in Kampala.

Fire that started at around 11:30am on Friday gutted  ware house stores for Star Pharmaceuticals Limited, Joint Medical Stores (JMS) and Mi-Tech, an electronics assembling company in Industrial Area.

According to the JMS Executive Director, Bildard Baguma, whereas they have not yet ascertained the exact loss occasioned to them, they suspect medical equipment worth shs7 billion lost in the inferno.

“We  have lost a number of medical equipment we had in our warehouse and our estimate is around shs7 billion and more. We shall ascertain the exact loss occasioned later,”Baguma said.

“From the information we have the fire started between 11 and 11:30am this morning and it seems to have started from a neighboring warehouse where some welding work was being done on the roof."

Among the items that were razed by the fire included boxes of condoms and other drugs that had been stored in the Joint Medical Store ware house in Industrial Area.

Whereas the Police Fire brigade department deployed almost all their capabilities, by 3pm, over three hours later since breaking out,  there was still fire in the ware house.

However, Nakawa Division Mayor, Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga blamed the development to poor construction of the ware houses that saw no space left for fire tenders to easily put fire, in case of any outbreak like it happened on Friday morning.

He  noted that he would ask KCCA to rectify the mistakes  during the  construction of the ware houses which didn't follow the approved plan.