Traders Cry Out Over Allocation Of Stalls

Traders at the New Layout Ultra Modern Market in the Port Harcourt township axis have alleged that they were being shortchanged and highly extorted of their hard earned money by officials of the Port Harcourt City Local Government (PHALGA) for re-allocation of stalls in the market.

Speaking to journalists on the outcome of the reallocation processes in Port Harcourt, the new Layout Market Caretaker chairman, Mr Luck Alukeba, said that traders at the market were asked to pay the sum of N500,000 for them to get a reallocation at the market.

He said that the Port Harcourt City Council told the traders that it was going to renovate the market and after which the traders would return to continue their business activities adding that they were temporarily relocated to the Lagos bus stop for continuation of their business, instead of waiting till when the renovation work will be over.

According to the caretaker chairman, “Now that the renovation work has been completed, we are beginning to see a different thing entirely, against what we were earlier promised.”

Alukeba alleged that some of the shops have been allocated to some non traders of the new layout market, while those who had shops there are yet to be given allocations, even when their particulars have been submitted to the council.

The caretaker chairman therefore, posited that traders will have no other option, but to display their goods outside of the market, if they are not given back their shops as was promised before the renovation work began.

Some of the traders were visibly angry over the unfolding events at the market, as they complained that their names were missing from the list of those that were allocated shops, whereas they have given to the allocation committee all necessary documents required for the reallocation of stalls.

Corlins Walter