By Ben Kati
Karu traders have pleaded with Officials of the FCT Administration to shelve its planned shut down of the market over illegalities.
This is coming after the removal of illegal structures around the Market, recently.
The traders and other stakeholders had begged the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to suspend the planned shut down of the entire market for further clean up.
In an interactive meeting with officials of the Committee, the traders pleaded that their means of livelihoods were at stake, and may get worse, should the market be shut down.
A representative of the Market developers, Chika Obiora while commending the demolition exercise which he said had restored sanity in the market, also pledged to work in synergy with other stakeholders to sustain the environmental sanitation and also end all activities that encourage traffic gridlock.
FCT Ministerial Committee on City Sanitation, had said the discovery made on growing illegalities within the market was alarming, and needed a temporarily shut down of entire market for a total clean up and restore the Master plan.
The Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah who led the squad, said the rate of illegalities perpetrated in the market, do not only constitute environmental and security threats, but not befitting for a model City like Abuja.
Attah who reiterated that FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello remains unhappy that traders in Karu Market had left spaces in the market to take over the roadside, making it difficult for a free flow of traffic, noted that if the illegalities were not abated, FCTA may not give further notice before shutting down the entire market.
