…sympathises with traders over losses
Dr Michael Tidi, Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, has said that a committee will be set up by the council to investigate the cause of the fire incident that destroyed properties worth millions of naira at the Ogbe-Ijoh market on Sunday, January 23.
Tidi who visited the market to ascertained the level of destruction caused by the fire, said the council will laiase with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to arrange on how to assist the fire incident.
“[Warri South]council will set up a committee to investigate the immediate cause of the fire. If there are technical or man-made issues, we will find out and look at how the market can be resuscitated to benefit Warri South people.
“The frequent fire outbreaks at the market is truly regrettable as its one incident too many. On face value, millions of naira have been lost and traders have been reduced to zero level. It is very painful,’ Tidi said.
He said his visit to the market “was to help the affected traders restart something,” adding that “the magnitude of damage caused by the inferno is huge and I sympathise with the traders over these losses.”
The council boss immediately ordered Mr Joseph Oribioye, Secretary to the Warri South Local Government, to liaise with the Ogbe-Ijoh market master and take statistics of the affected shops, the types of wares as well as owners of the shops; adding that “We know that they have to pay their children’s school fees.”
He also said that to prevent further reoccurrence, there was need to remove all wooden stalls in the market and replace them with modern and fire resistant structures.
“As a council we will laiase with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to see how they can help us to rebuild this market. It’s long overdue.
“We cannot continue to have these kind of shops in this market. This is Warri, an urban area and there is need for a modern indices to be brought to it.
“And again I must use this opportunity to beg all stakeholders: there are a lot of agitations here and there over this market, you must give government the necessary support for a modern edifice to be sited here.
“We cannot continue with this wooden structures because if it were block structures the spread of the fire would have been prevented. The fire fighters came in record time but for the wooden structures that escalated the fire,” Tidi said.