By Uche Amunike
In their bid to reduce environmental pollution caused by the hundreds of electricity generating sets used by traders in the popular Area 1 Shopping Complex in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), has instructed that the managers of the complex should evolve a uniform source of energy to fight this menace.
They arrived at this decision over the weekend, after the FCTA authorities which include the Departments of Development Control, Security Services, the Abuja Investments Company Limited and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, held a meeting with traders at the shopping complex.
The FCTA insisted that all the attachments and illegal constructions in the complex, which include the illegal parking lots, have made the place a nightmare for motorists and therefore, would be removed just as the entire environment is being cleaned up in order to restore the complex to its former state.
Speaking after the meeting, the Director, FCTA Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima Usman, stated that the current people-friendly FCTA, came to the decision to meet with the managers in order to reach an understanding before carrying out the cleaning exercise.
He reiterated that because of the congestion at the market and its present unhygienic condition, there was likely to be a disaster concerning the health of the people, especially during emergencies.
He indicated that every Kebab (Suya) seller would be put under one roof. He also stated that packing spaces inside the market would be removed, while there would be only one source of energy, as against littering the market with generating sets that cause noise pollution and endanger the health of traders and customers, alike.
His words: ‘They should have one source of energy, instead of littering the market with generating sets, causing noise pollution’
‘God forbid, but imagine if there is any fire outbreak in this market, it will be disastrous, and rescue operations impossible. As a government, we do not have to wait for that to happen before we take action.
‘Remember we were here last year to do some clean up, but this time, it is different. We are going to remove all the attachments, and create spaces inside the market for parking’, he reiterated.
He also frowned against the traffic situation, which is caused by the activities of the market, promising that the FCTA will sanitize it in order to fulfill the vision of the Nyesom Wike-led administration to sanitize the Federal Capital territory.
In response, Umar Uba, who spoke on behalf of the traders, expressed their appreciation to the FCTA for deeming it necessary to meet with the union and inform them of the plans they had of removing illegal structures in the market.
He gave his best assurances that the traders would do all in their power to cooperate with the authorities in sanitizing the market, since they would all gain from it in due course.
