By Nasratu Kargbo
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Edward Hingha Sandy on the 29th of August 2022 promised traders that the Sewa Grounds market will be available on the 1st of January 2023.
Sandy during a programme organized to update the public on the progress of the ongoing construction project, explained that the structures will be done by December and that by the 1st of January 2023, the traders who are mostly selling on the streets, will be able to relocate there.
The minister explained that the new structure seeks to solve the challenges that traders, customers, and pedestrians have been faced with over the years, and mentioned problematic issues of security, weather condition, toilet facility, and the movement of pedestrians among others, that the Sewa market will address.
“This solution will allow Sani Abacha to be free and there will be free movement and alternative routes to travel to East End,” said Sandy.
He explained that Sani Abacha Street is not a good place for traders to do their business; he stated that they should be in a safe place. The Minister emphasized that “Sani Abacha Street is a bad place for our female traders. So, now we are doing the correct thing to ensure that our women are in a very safe environment”.
Sandy noted they will have effective management in order to ensure sustainability, noting that stalls and shops will be available at an affordable cost.
He called on all traders, especially women that have been selling on the streets to come to a safer environment, saying the open market stall has space for one thousand five hundred and forty-four which according to him can take Abacha traders. He added that for those who may want shops, they will also be available.
Director General of National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh explained that the money used for the project is an investment and that after its completion, market traders would be expected to pay for the facility.
He spoke about the reason for the delay of the project, noting that it was being investigated and that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wanted to know how the contract was awarded.
Speaking on the structures and facilities, the Project Manager and Consultant for NASSIT Abel Onomake explained that the building will take one thousand five hundred and forty-four different stalls and tables, and that will likely take three thousand traders. In addition, he noted that they have a warehouse block, with seventy-six large stores, explaining that the block is where the traders can save their goods for the night in order for them not to take them back home.
Onamake explained that they have a separate building for toilet facilities, saying that it has forty toilet compartments, twenty each for men and women.
The Project Manager said in a bid to make market women comfortable, they have a special lot where several facilities such as a police post, fire force, clinic, and daycare centre are provided. There is also another section that houses water supply systems and transformers.
The project was therefore handed over to seven contractors and is expected to be completed in the next four months.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online
