The governor stressed how important it is that marketplaces in the state be constructed to allow for simple evacuation in the case of a fire.
Otti stated this on Tuesday when he paid an on-the-spot visit to a section of the Ehere Market, along Ikot Ekpene Road, Aba, occupied by timber dealers, which was gutted by fire Monday night.
He regretted that the way the Abia market was built, made it gullible to fire outbreaks and directed the Mayor of Obingwa LGA, Dr Eric Egwuibe, to immediately commence processes towards rebuilding the market.
He said, “What we will do is to assess the level of damage. We will also through the mayor, begin the process of rebuilding this place. I think the way the market is, makes it susceptible to fire incidents.
“We need to ensure there are fire extinguishers in all the shops around here. I am giving an instruction to the mayor to assess the level of damage and begin the process of rebuilding, bringing down all those ramshackle buildings, and building proper shops for all of you.
“We also want the shops to be properly built because. Even the way the entire place looks, it is not very decent and very inviting. So I would like you to trade in an environment that is conducive.”
The governor, who noted that upon getting information about the disaster, he quickly mobilised men of the homeland security and Fire service to put out the fire, thanked God that no life was lost in the inferno.
He assured that fire extinguishers will be procured and placed strategically in the market to enable traders to tackle such outbreaks in the future.
The governor said his vision is to ensure that traders operate in a conducive environment fit for trading and assured that the government will assess the level of damage to support them to replace their lost goods.
“The details of how it would be done would be worked out. One thing I can assure you is that if you do have a shop here, you will not lose your shop. We also know that this damage would have caused a lot of loss to the owners; by the time we do the assessment, we will see how we can support them,” he said.
Otti also inspected an accident scene, on the same Ikot Ekpene Road, a short distance away from the market, towards the Aba Waterside, involving a trailer loaded with bags of cement.
The accident which happened Monday night, saw the trailer skidding off the main road and slamming into a business building. No life was lost in the accident as the driver of the trailer and his conductor were pulled out of the wrecked vehicle.
The Governor directed the Director General of the Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), Arch Uche Ukeje, who accompanied him on the visits, to liaise with the police to ensure immediate evacuation of the damaged trailer.
