Hundreds of shop owners at the Garki International market, Abuja are lamenting their loses after the Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, abruptly shut the market early Friday morning.
Many traders in perishable goods, especially food items, have lost huge sums of money because their wares were locked inside their stalls, claiming that the AEPB did not give them notice of closure.
“The AEPB gave the traders no time to remove their wares after negotiations between the Abuja Markets Management Limited and shop owners late Friday night failed to resolve a dispute on incessant increase in service charges,” said Joshua Ike, a trader and member of Garki Market Management Association.
Credible News learnt that the dispute is already a subject of litigation.
But Olisamah Braimah, the director of the board said it derived no joy in shutting the market. Mrs Janet Peni, the AEPB Deputy Director of Information, in a statement on Sunday, explained that while the board was not happy shutting down the market, “it will be failing in its responsibility, if the market is allowed to operate in its current deplorable condition”.
Braimah said: “Environmental health officers of the board carrying out routine monitoring activities in the market, a week ago, noticed the filthy market environment as garbage littered the place with bleeding sewer lines.
“Following our standard protocol, we served them an abatement notice, giving them the required time allowable under law, to clean up.
“They ignored the notice and refused to clean up, rather the pile of garbage in the market grew worse.”
The director said that AEPB simply went to court to obtain the court order to seal the market for the non-compliance attitude of the traders. He did not state how much time was given for compliance but said that the closure was followed by the court order issued to that effect.
“It is indeed a sad spectacle to behold fruits and vegetables being sold in close proximity to damaged sewer lines and heaps of garbage.
“Subsequently on Friday, over 5,000 traders who thronged the modern market in order to trade, couldn’t gain access into their shops as the market was sealed up.
“This means that every commercial activity grinds to a halt, because the situation as it is, was a recipe for an epidemic,” he noted.
Braimah said that an epidemic waiting to happen was better tackled an more beneficial than allowing trading to go on as usual in a filthy market environment.
“Placing financial interests of traders above the greater public health of the general populace is indeed an expensive mistake that we cannot afford to make,” he argued.
The director assured that once the managers of the market undertake to clean up, they will be allowed to resume trading in the market.
“As soon as they do the needful, we will go back to the court to obtain a court order to unseal the market for operations,” he added.
The statement claimed that the situation at Garki International Market remained the same even after a late evening meeting on Friday between AEPB, Abuja Markets Management Limited and shop owners.
