Traders at Rumuwoji Market, Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt, and their counterparts at Fruits and Vegetable Market, D/ Line, Port Harcourt, have called for justice in the allocation of stalls in the two new markets built by the Rivers State Government.
The Tide reports that the two markets were rebuilt by the Governor Nyesom Wike administration following the inferno that gutted the Mile One Market in 2014 and another one that razed down the Fruit Garden Market in 2019.
Speaking in an interview with The Tide, the former Caretaker Committee Secretary of Fruits and Vegetable Market, who is also the Constitution Review chairman of the market association, Elder Igochukwu Weji, said the move by the governor to “fulfil his promise of building a standard market for the traders is commendable.”
Elder Weji noted that traders encountered untold hardship and loses during the fire incident that gutted the market, adding that the temporary structures used by the traders over a year and three months now have started affecting their perishable goods.
He pleaded with the committee responsible for the allocation of the Rumuwoji Market to expedite action on the allocation and work in line with Governor Wike’s promise to assuage the pains of the traders.
According to him, “we thought that we would make the Christmas sales in the new market but up till now we are yet to be allocated which is against our governor’s promise.”
He also called on the committee to work with the union that has all the documents of the shop owners, saying “it will be very painful if the original shop owners lose their shops after the big lost during the fire incident in the market.
“There is no way the committee will work or do the allocation probably without the union except they want to rob the traders who have already suffered serious loss.”
Meanwhile, another trader at the Fruit and Vegetable Market, D/Line, who pleaded anonymity, said that the governor meant well for the traders, but however, expressed fear that the goodwill of the governor may not actualise if the allocation of the market stalls is politicised.
He also supported the allocation of the market stalls to traders who have documents to prove their ownership rather than giving them out to politicians who would want to sell them to the traders.
But the chairman, Rumuwoji Market Traders Association (MOMTA), Mr. Ndubueze Enyiuche Eze, told The Tide that the allocation committee had visited the market and also sat with him on how to allocate the market stalls.
He said that the committee was willing to work with the union to ensure that the right thing is done.
“ Working without the marketers association would result to giving out the shops to outsiders, leaving out the traders whom the governor promised and built the shops for”, he said.
A trader at the market, Mrs Kate Ibe, expressed dissatisfaction over the delay of the allocation, adding that “the happiness of the traders over the completed and commissioned market should not be cut short”.
She also noted the rumours going round that outsiders are indicating interest in the allocation to displace the right owners who have already lost much to the fire incident.
However, chairman, Fruit and Vegetable Marketers Association, Mr Chigozie Nnodim, when contacted through telephone, declined comments, saying “I am not interested in all those things”.