Confusion Mars Ikoku Traders Relocation

Suspense, anxiety and confusion have taken over at the ever-busy Ikoku Motor Spare Parts Market in Port Harcourt as dealers and customers are now deeply apprehensive over uncertainties surrounding the new date for the proposed relocation of the market to the permanent site at Iriebe in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

A cross section of the dealers and their customers, who spoke in an exclusive interview with The Tide, recently, expressed worry over the delayed relocation and the lack of information on the new date to commence movement to the Rivers State Government-backed permanent site.

A dealer, Mr Ben Eze, told The Tide that the traders had not yet been briefed on a definite date the government had set for their relocation to Iriebe.

Eze said that most of the traders were not happy over the suspense that has  characterised their relocation, saying that they were excited about the movement to the proposed permanent site.

According to him, the uncertainty has affected their businesses in many ways as they are hardly relaxed while carrying on with their trade, following harassments by the police, officials of the Rivers State Traffic Management Agency (TIMARIV), sanitation and waste management authorities.

Another dealer, who simply gave his name as Mr Henry, agrees with Eze that they have not been properly briefed on a new relocation date, and appealed to the state government to address all outstanding issues that could facilitate their movement, fix a new relocation date, and conduct proper orientation and mobilisation of the traders.

He said that if the traders receive definite information on the planned relocation, they would adjust themselves to the realities, and prepare for the movement to Iriebe, saying that for most of them, Ikoku was not conducive for their business.

But the traders also expressed reservations over the status of their union, saying that their leadership was in complete disarray as joint meetings have allegedly not been held in the last six years.

A customer, Mr Wisdom Mark, said he was ignorant of the proposed relocation of the market, and urged government to fast-track the development of the permanent site to ensure that the traders relocate as quickly as possible.

Mark said that the relocation has become increasingly expedient because of the frequent harassment of customers by officials of various government agencies and the traders, who complain of lack of space for parking.

Another customer, Mrs Alice Umeh, lamented the ordeal faced by customers who throng the market on a daily basis to procure one spare part or the other due to lack of space for car park, arguing that apart from the fact that the police, TIMARIV and sanitation officials harass customers, traffic is also another issue around the Ikoku precinct.

For Sunday Alabi, another customer, the relocation to Iriebe is long overdue, urging government to put every mechinary in motion to complete the relocation process, to avoid those who manage to find space at any of the parking lots within the area, having to be dispossessed of the little they came to the market with.

The customers, agreed that a lot of advantages abound if the relocation was perfected, saying that since the government was driving the project under a public private partnership arrangement, it is possible that the new site would be more convenient and expose the customers to less risk.

Fielding questions on the delay in the relocation to Iriebe, the Port Harcourt Motor Parts Dealers’ Unions, said that their members are desirous of moving to the new site as soon as it is ready for occupation.

The unions, comprising motor spare parts, mechanics and technicians, said that their position informed the move in 2002/2003, which resulted in the acquisition of land at Aluu for their members to relocate.

President, Motor Spare Parts, Automobile and Technicians Union, Mr Maxwell Anuonye, said that their desire was strengthened when the present administration of Governor Chibuike Amaechi intervened and began driving the process of relocating the traders to Iriebe, instead.

He said that to give effect to that move, about 25.11 hectares of land was given to the union after a memorandum of understanding incorporating all stakeholders in the auto business was signed between the Rivers State Government and the union on June 2, 2010.

Anuonye said that the official survey of the land under the public private partnership (PPP) had been concluded by both the union and the Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority (GPHCDA), adding that the business plan and other requirements were being processed.

He stated that the traders were particularly interested in relocating to Iriebe under the new arrangement, saying that, “it is a dream we had on our own before the intervention of the state government”.

Anuonye said that the present location of Ikoku market was too congested for the traders, and was constituting serious challenge in terms of parking space for both traders and customers, saying that traders have been having a lot of problems with environmental sanitation and TIMARIV officials over parking spaces.

According to him, a lot of customers have resorted to going to Aba to procure spare parts they would easily have bought at Ikoku because of the acute lack of parking spaces and the risk of confrontation with environmental sanitation and TIMARIV officials, noting that the Ikoku traders were not happy with the continued loss of customers to Aba traders because of space constraint.

He said they were 100 per cent‘ready to relocate to the new site provided by the state government, adding that in line with the MoU, government was supposed to provide the land while the traders raise money to develop it for their occupation.

Anuonye regretted that the pace of development of the land was slow, and appealed to the GPHCDA to hasten the process to facilitate the relocation, because according to him, the original development plan for the land was to last for 18 months.

While acknowledging that the union was part of the problem because of the delay in delivering a business plan involving all the unions under the new umbrella association, he added that as soon as the necessary documents were ready and signed, the union would deliver the plan to GPHCDA to enable the authority give the go ahead for the development of the ultra-modern market.

“We cannot lose anything at Ikoku when we relocate to Iriebe, although some of our members own the shops they presently operate from. But we don’t mind if government would demolish them when we relocate because we know that the government might pay compensation for the shops.

“We are ready to relocate, but we must relocate to Iriebe as a group, not as individuals.”

But in her reaction, Sole Administrator, Greater Port Harcourt City Development Authority, Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, blamed the delay in the relocation of Ikoku spart parts market to its permanent site at Iriebe on the failure of the group to conform with the terms of agreement reached with government in 2010.

Cookey-Gam, who spoke in an exclusive interview in her office in Port Harcourt, recently, said, “government reached an agreement with them that it will provide the land while the union will develop the land,” but regretted that “after several meetings with the union comprising spare parts dealers, mechanics and technicians, they have not presented any business plan that specifies clear project financing startegy.”

According to Cookey-Gam, the deadline given the traders has since elapsed, while government has commenced the provision of infrastructure at the site with design works being fast tracked.

The administrator explained that with the expiration of the deadline given to the traders to relocate, it was certain that they will move, and advised the union to “put their house in order and produce the business plan for the market development as quickly as possible to avoid eviction” from their present location.

She said that the government was presently evaluating the design and scope of the project to know the actual financial implication before kick-starting the tender process in line with the due process mechanism of government on the execution of any new projects.

Eunice Choko-Kayode & Beemene Taneh

A cross section of women celebrating the Mothers Day at St Thomas Anglican Church, Diobu, Port Harcourt, yeserday.