As traders under the Isaac Boro Park Flyover axis of the Mile One Rumuwoji Market, Port Harcourt, count their losses, the Rivers State Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Mr Chinyere Igwe, has said that the ongoing removal of illegal structures at the market was for the safety and security of the people.
Igwe noted that dredging was done along the rail line, which he described as unsafe for humans and recalled the recent incident at a viewing centre in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, where several persons lost their lives when a high tension electricity pole fell on the building.
The commissioner pointed out that while the state government was poised to increase the revenue base of the state it would certainly not be through illegality.
He said the state government was committed to its urban renewal programme, stating that they would continue to remove shanties and illegal structures to restore Port Harcourt to its former glory.
I Igwe pointed out that several meeting notices, reorientations and awareness campaigns had been carried out to sensitise the traders on the need to comply with government’s directives.
He advised displaced traders to move into other markets in the state, including, the Uruala and Azikiwe Mini-Markets as well as the Mile One Market, which he described as being empty, largely because stall owners preferred to trade in open places outside the ultra-modern market.

Tonye Nria-Dappa