By John Ugo, Awka
There is anger and tension as Anambra state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, on Friday, marked more than 1000 shops for demolition at the popular Ochanja market in the commercial town of Onitsha.
Findings revealed that most of the buildings in the market had structural defects, with cracked walls, leaking decking, falling pillars among other challenges.
Soludo had led taskforce officials and professionals to monitor the various sections of the market.
He described the buildings as illegal construction with no extant approval from the government.
The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Dr. Obinna Ngonadi, said that the administration has the intention to decongest markets, as well as make them habitable to International standard.
He warned owners of illegal structures to quickly remove them or get ready to pay the government to remove them.
The team visited Building Materials market at Ogidi where the Governor commended the traders for complying with the government directives including participating in the ongoing enumeration, which according to him, would help to capture and document the data of all traders and their enterprises for welfare, security and other purposes.
Chairman, Anambra State Physical Planning Board, Mr Chike Maduekwe, assured that Anambra State Materials Testing Laboratory would visit all the markets to test the structural integrity of their buildings so as to find out those to be spared with some amendment and those to be outrightly demolished.
Also the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ochanja market, Mr Bonaventure Muo, his counterpart from Building Materials market (Ogidi), Mr Jude Okonkwo and Mr Adinu Onyechi of Building Materials 2 and 3 (Ogidi and Ogbunike), expresse appreciation to the Governor for the steps aimed at correcting observed anomalies within the markets
They assured that they would support every government’s programme aimed at sanitising the markets.