The effort of Gov. Rotimi Amaechi to ensure total elimination of street and road side trading in the state capital seems to be hitting a brick wall as members of market union and Port Harcourt local government city council are bribed by traders to sell on the road making traffic a problem in the area.
Recently, the newly deployed divisional police officer of Borikiri police station Port Harcourt also decry the difficulties faced by the patrol team on Creek Road by the constant increase of traders selling on Creek Road.
Other commercial buses and taxes could no longer ply the road as traders sell on the centre of the road. Some of the heavy weight traders told our senior correspondent in anonymity that they have paid some money to the authority incharge to enable them sell on the road and this is the reason why members of the authority could no longer face them to implement the policy of the state government on street trading.
As if that is not enough, other female traders also claims that have used what they have to settle for what they wanted and this offer encourage road side trading on the Creek road market.
Some of the traders who sell food stuffs such as garri, beans, rice, meat fish, stock fish and other cookable items also declared that they settle by those items to please mankind to enable them sell on the road.
However, Hon. Gloria Nonju chairlady of the market and councillor representing ward 6 in Phalga legislative Assembly of Rivers State said she has tried her best to control and enforce the law on the situation but the traders who derived 85% population of Igbo tribe have no respect for the laws of the state demanding for more enforcement to curtail the unfortunate experience. ###
Alapakabia Tobin
