Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has renamed the Port Harcourt Fruit Garden Market to Ogbum-Nu-Abali Fruit Garden Market.
The market was razed down by fire on September 29, 2018.
Commissioning the project on Tuesday, Governor Wike announced that the State Government will allocate shops to traders who owned shops in the market before it got burnt.
He said: “Let me assure all of you, that those who are traders here will get back their shops. We already have the names of these traders.
“We shall also allocate shops to the host community of Ogbum-nu-Abali. Thereafter, we shall ballot, if there are shops remaining “.
Governor Wike announced that henceforth, the market would be known and called “Ogbum-nu-Abali Fruit Garden Market to reflect the host community.
“We must begin to reflect the names of the communities where projects are allocated. This is important “, he said.
Wike warned the traders against selling on the road. He said there are shops and spaces to accommodate all traders within the market.
He urged the traders to always pay their taxes because such taxes would be used to develop more projects for other residents of the state.
The Governor recalled that the market was razed down during the campaign period. According to him, several political groups made promises, but only the Rivers State Government was able to redeem its pledge.
Wike stated that fire fighting equipment would be installed in the market to forestall future occurrence of fire outbreak.
