Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, will on Saturday, November 11, 2023, lead other top government functionaries including the chairman, of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Christopher Zakka Maikalangu and Managing Director, of AMAC Investment Property Development Company (AMAC-IPDC), Honourable Tanko Danjuma Atuwu to reopen the Kurudu Relocation Market which was closed down due to the outbreak of dreaded Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged the whole world.
The chairman, Kurudu Relocation Market Reopening Committee, Chief Iroha C. Iroha, revealed this in Abuja while briefing the media on the preparations for the official reopening of the market.
He said the leadership of the market with the support from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), AMAC and IPDC, has put in place all the basic amenities that will make traders’ relocation comfortable and which will make them enjoy the new environment.
He stated that the leadership of the market attaches more importance to security and thus topnotch security arrangements have been provided to secure the lives and property of traders, customers and residents alike.
According to Iroha, having taken into consideration the harsh economic hardship that Nigerians are passing through at the moment, the management has concluded plans to allocate shops free of charge to all interested persons for the next six months to draft traffic to the market. He said the shops were given out at affordable prices in spite of their location as part of efforts to decongest the Old Kurudu Market and to discourage trading activities along the road corridors to save lives.
“Today 1st November, 2023 marks the beginning of the reopening of Kurudu Relocation Market after it was closed down due to the infectious dreaded COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the whole world. We are all aware that institutions like the market attract rapid development to the community where it is situated. For this, the Kurudu Community and its environs must be grateful to the government of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) for siting this huge ultra-modern market here.
“This market has all the requirements of a modern market: a banking hall, warehouses, toilet facilities, internal good road network, plazas, drainages, shops of various sizes, restaurants, a well-planned informal sector and others. Our study revealed that our shops, plazas and the section of the informal sector remain the cheapest in terms of prices this is in spite of its prime location and standard.
“We are expected to receive for the reopening of the market, the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike and the Executive Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Honourable Christopher Maikalangu to reopen the market on 11th November 2023. We have put in place a top-notch security arrangement for the security of lives and property and we have taken all the necessary steps to make sure that human activities peak by providing all the necessary facilities in the market.
“Starting today, Ist of November 2023, our staff will be at the market office by 10 am Monday to Saturday to attend to all issues and to allocate shops to all interested persons free of charge for the next six months. Forceful enforcement with a Joint Task Force of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Development Control and security agencies would commence on 11th November, 2023.
“This committee has the mandate to reopen the market but also make it functional and active. Today, we have begun a friendly appeal to all shop owners and those trading at the major roads and streets, Old Kurudu Market, all shops and business outfits within the communities and its environs are advised to wilfully move in into the market,” Iroha told Nigerian Tribune.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
