Ladipo Market Latest: Gov Fashola gives conditions for re-opening

Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Sunday said the Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market that was shut last week would not be re-opened until the environmental situation in and around the market improves and the umbrella union of the traders enters into an agreement with the government.

The governor, who spoke during a visit to the market, told members of Ladipo Auto Centre Executive Committee (LACEC) that the reasons for the closure included gross disregard to the environment, erection of illegal structures and improper business dispositions by the traders, adding that all must be thoroughly addressed before the market could be reopened.

The state government’s role in the market, Fashola said, was to encourage the traders understand the importance of a tidy environment, not just for good health but also a crucial factor for a thriving business.

Fashola noted that the rainy season would soon begin in earnest and that government’s intervention was to ensure there would be no casualties as a result of the unacceptable activities the traders had perpetrated in and around the market.

He said the state government would not want to be responsible for casualties of flood as recorded in previous years in Lagos and other states of the country, adding that shutting the market was only a proactive measure at preventing such casualties.

He said the market would remain closed till “the government is satisfied, after which another fresh agreement between government and the union would have been reached.”

He also assured that government was ready to help traders and anybody doing business in any of the markets to prosper but that a shabby condition lsuch as Ladipo Market, before closure, could not encourage customers.

Fashola urged the traders to co-operate with the Mushin Local Council in cleaning up and ensuring an environmentally sustainable market environment.

In his response, President, Ladipo Auto Centre Executive Committee (LACEC), Iyke Animalu, assured the governor of the union’s and traders’ readiness to comply with the relevant directives towards immediate evacuation and disposal of refuse and removal of whatever might impede free flow of traffic on the roads, so as to have the market reopened.

“The union will do whatever it takes to ensure that it does not disappoint the governor and make sure the market is made a business-friendly environment for traders and customers”, he assured.

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