Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, explained that the issuance of the papers are only meant for those who have complied with the developer of the project.
He stated that the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration has set a minimum standard for building and remodeling markets in the state with the new look of the A- Line blocks at the Ariaria market.
The Commissioner insisted that the Ikpeazu’s administration deserves commendation for breaking a developmental jinx at the Ariaria market, stressing that if previous administrations from the old Imo State had done half of what he did at the market, Ariaria market would have been a world standard market.
He further disclosed the remodeled market will host 8 banks, parking lots, police station, fire service station and other facilities to ensure the wellbeing of the traders and their customers.
Stressing that the remodeled blocks are being built under a public private partnership arrangement guaranteed by the state government, the Commissioner further disclosed that the blocks are fitted with modern security gadgets, fire proof system, rest rooms and elevators.
He said; “Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration deserves commendation for breaking a developmental jinx at the Ariaria International market. If other administrations from the old Imo State had done half of what we did in this market, Ariaria market would have been a world standard market before now.
“What we decided to do as a government is to deliver samples so that people can see exactly what we have. This is our vision of how Ariaria International market should look like. We have set the minimal standard for building and remodeling markets in Abia. Even the incoming administration will have no option than to borrow a leaf from what we have done. They can either make it better or at least, not go below the standard we have set. It is an international market, we couldn’t have done less. There are provisions for banks, parking lots, police station, fire service and rest rooms. The elevators were fitted to make it easier for traders to access all parts of the blocks, especially those who may not want to use the manual staircase. The electronic doors in place are an addition to the manual doors, so if your electronic door develops a fault, you can use the manual doors.
“We will continue to work and see where we will end by May 29, 2023 and hand over to the incoming administration to continue. You can see that we are redeveloping the market and trading activities are going on simultaneously. We ensured that we relocated all traders within the market, no trader left the market. So, the impression that traders were at home dying of hunger was election period propaganda. We ensured we got alternative shops for them. Ikpeazu is leaving Abia better than he met it in 2015.”
On the flood menace in the market, the commissioner disclosed that the Governor has directed the leadership of Ariaria market to fully take over the daily pumping of water to the Ifeobara collection point which flows to the waterside river.
Also speaking, developer of the project, Mr. Henry Okoroafor, explained that each of the three blocks has 150 shops each which make a total of 450 shops that will be ready for handover in the next few days.
“In our design, A- Line has a total of 14 blocks; each block has 150 shops which brings it to a total of 450 shops that will be handed over in a few days. The dimension of each shop is 12feet by 8 feet which means that a shop owner can still partition his own to the numbers of his choice. This should be better termed a mall, not even market because of what we are injecting to beautify it. In our design, there are banks, hotels, parks among others which were all added to make this market the best in Nigeria when completed.”
