Phase 2 Mile 1 Rumuwoji Market traders have asked Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to scrap the market’s management committee as pre-condition that will guarantee their support for his re-election bid.
Chief Young Georgewill, Chairman of the market’s Shop Owners Association, gave the conditions on Thursday in Port Harcourt.
He also urged the governor to tackle destabilizing leadership tussle in the market and ensure affordable allocation of shops to original owners as the market undergoes reconstruction.
The conditions follow the governor’s promise to get the Phase 2 Mile1 Market reconstruction project ready by January next year.
According to Georgewill: “We want the management committee appointed during Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s tenure to discontinue because they are doing more harm than good since inception in 2013. They disorganised the structures of the market and made the traders slaves.
“The committee members collect and cart away huge sums without paying a dime to the Port Harcourt City Council treasury. yet they receive their monthly allowances from the council chairman who appointed the committee.”
The traders also called for a dedicated car park for the over 2054 existing shop owners in the expected new market while also calling for a harmonised revenue collects against the prevailing multiple fees and levies through state and the council.
