Posted by By Vincent Ujumadu on
Abia State government has revoked ownership of all plots of land allocated to private individuals for residential and other purposes at the Uratta integrated market in Aba North council area of the state.
UMUAHIA - Abia State government has revoked ownership of all plots of land allocated to private individuals for residential and other purposes at the Uratta integrated market in Aba North council area of the state.
The decision, Vanguard learnt, was to create more space for the new timber market planned for the area.
The existing timber market at the famous Ariaria International Market has already been closed down through a bill passed by the state House of Assembly early this year and the governor has also signed the bill into law. The timber market has also been relocated to Uratta.
Special Adviser to Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on Media Affairs, Mr. Iyke Ekeoma said in a statement on Thursday in Umuahia that government would acquire land in other parts of the commercial city to compensate those whose plots have been revoked for the expansion of the market.
Ekeoma said: "The allotees to the Uratta land should not commence any development on the land and the land shall remain solely for the Uratta integrated market.
Government will not hesitate to deal decisively with anyone caught contravening these directives by encroaching on the said land meant for the market."
According to Ekeoma, the relocation of the market was in the best interest of Aba residents and the state, warning that nobody should sell timber, building materials or engage in haulage of any type of building materials around the Ariaria Market.
The latest relocation of the timber market in Aba is the third in the last 30 years. In the 1970s, the timber market was located at the present Ngwa road market. Government later asked the traders to vacate the area to their present location at Ariaria.
In fact, the timber dealers were the first set of people to move to Ariaria after initial resistance, while other traders joined them later.
However, as a result of expansion of Ariaria and population explosion, the Ariaria timber market appears too small for effective business, hence the decision to move it again.