Imo State Govt Engages Stakeholders On Eke-Ukwu Market

AMBROSE NWAOGWUGWU 

The Imo State Government has commenced engagement with the stakeholders of Eke-Ukwu Owerri market and opened the subscription for the newly built Eke-Ukwu Owerri Ultra-Modern International Market for traders and interested members of the public.

 

The Commissioner for Trade, Commerce, and Investment, Hon. Barr. Rex Anunobi (Sokom), made this known on Friday at the conference room of the ministry during a stakeholder engagement organized by his ministry to engage the relevant stakeholders as he rolled out the plans for the commencement of subscription from the traders and interested public.

 

Commissioner Anunobi revealed the state government’s intention of clearing Douglas Road of street traders with the view of relocating them to their permanent site at the newly built Eke-Ukwu Ultra-Modern International Market. He stressed that the government has provided a credible alternative with modern features befitting trading activities. The commissioner recalled that Douglas Road, which was a presidential route when the state was created in 1976, is now blocked because of the activities of street traders. He noted that past governments were unable to achieve the relocation of the traders because no alternative was provided within the vicinity. However, this issue has been resolved as the state government, under the leadership of Governor Hope Uzodimma, took the initiative of building a modern market with all necessary accessories within the area where street trading activities occur. He stated that the street traders will no longer have any justification not to move to the new location, which is a stone’s throw away.

He informed the stakeholders that the state government has made everything possible for the relocation, including entering into an MoU with Access Bank as a financial partner to assist the traders in securing credit facilities such as loans to help them procure stores at the market.

To show the government’s preparedness for the commencement, Commissioner Anunobi revealed that the government would give up to a 3-month moratorium where the traders will not have to pay for rents, levies, or taxes to help them stabilize and acclimatize to the new trading environment.

Confirming the government’s position, the regional manager of Access Bank, Mr. Okey Ehiemere, corroborated the Commissioner, assuring that the bank will provide credit facilities for interested traders to acquire the shops, with payments spread over up to 4 years using only the allocation papers issued by the Ministry as collateral.

Also speaking, the representative of the developer, Arch. Ugonna Ivan Okwara, who is also the project manager, said that interested traders or members of the public can come to their project office at the market either as groups or individuals to perfect the subscription.

The representative of the traders and the chairman of Nworie-lane, Comr. Gab C. Daniel, expressed delight at the commencement of sales of the Eke-Ukwu Ultra-Modern International Market shops. He confirmed that their section of the market is heavily congested and revealed that the commencement of subscriptions at the newly built market will help decongest it. He expressed gratitude to the Governor for the timely execution of the project, noting that “this is the first of its kind.”

Also speaking, the representative of the indigenous people of Eke-Ukwu Owerri market and the chairman of Amawon Youth Taskforce, Mr. Onuoha Christopher, said that the Governor has made the people of Owerri proud by not destroying their market, as past administrations tried to do, but by turning it into an Ultra-Modern International Market. “We are happy that our ancestral market is now an international market,” he praised the Governor.

Additionally, contributing from the inter-government agencies that will aid in the smooth enforcement of the relocation of street traders, the General Manager of Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA), Hon. Nzewode Frank, who is also an Owerri Nche Ise indigene where the market is situated, assured of the readiness of OCDA in enforcing the evacuation of residential buildings turned into trading centers. He vowed to restore the master plan of relocating all commercial activities in residential buildings into the newly built Eke-Ukwu Owerri Ultra-Modern International Market.

Also speaking, the Director-General of Imo Orientation Agency, Dr. Ethelbert Okere assured of his agency’s commitment by carrying out orientation exercises aimed at informing those engaging in illegal street trading to desist, else they would be charged by mobile courts that would prosecute defaulters.

At the Stakeholder’s forum with the commissioner were top government officials, including the General Manager of OCDA, Hon. Nkem Frank Nzewodo; Director-General of Imo Orientation Agency, Dr. Ethelbert Okere; the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Electronic and Creative Media, Ambrose Nwaogwugwu. From the ministry, the acting Permanent Secretary, Comrade Basil Iwu; the Director of Commerce, Mrs. Tonia Ezeala, Ph.D.; the Director of Cooperatives, Mrs. Orji Ebere C.; and the Director of Accounts, Comrade Jude Ogwunga, were also present.