Traders of the Mile One market in Port Harcourt have been directed to vacate the market from yesterday to enable the contractors to move into the site for commencement of work.
Rivers state governor Celestine Omehia stated this weekend in Port Harcourt when he paid an unscheduled visit to the market.
He said the contract for the reconstruction of the market had been awarded to Julius Berger Limited.
Within 90 days of construction work, about 200 stalls would be ready for use by the traders, he said.
Omehia appealed to the traders to cooperate with the contracting firm to ensure the completion of the rebuilding of the market in record time, and invited the executive members of the traders to a meeting in the government house to work out an interim arrangement for the traders.
He solicited peaceful conducts by the traders, and emphasized that he was in the market to demonstrate that he was aware that the market got burnt some years ago, and the condition under which they are carrying out their daily businesses is unhealthy.
He thanked them for voting him into office and assured them that his administration places attention to the services rendered by the market men and women in the economy.
Governor Omehia also visited the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, under construction to assess the level of renovation work taking place in the area. He expressed disappointment on the slow pace of work on the airport which commenced about one year ago.
He said the state government would take up the matter with the relevant authorities because of the suffering the situation has subjected the people of Rivers state, and indeed the business community in the area.
“This is the only international airport in the whole of south-south, including the south-east region of Nigeria,” he said.
He, therefore, urged the federal government to declare the airport as an emergence situation by directing that the repair works continue urgently to ensure its completion, and save the people that use the airport the agony of passing through Owerri.
He said airport users from the state passing through Owerri had gone through difficulties.
He, however, called on the companies engaged in the job to return to work without further delay, and allayed their fears of security threat as the state government would be ready to provide adequate security measures for the workers, including engaging the community assistance to ensure that the work commences and ends effectively.
The contract manager of Julius Berger Limited, Mr Peter Nwachukwu, told the governor that the company had completed about 35 percent of the entire resurfacing, adding that the work was stopped because of security pressure, and promised that they would return to work as soon as proper security arrangements for their staff were made.
Jun62007