The Ogun State government has given traders at Kara Market in Isheri a 100-day ultimatum to relocate to the Ogere International Market along the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Sam Oyeleye, said the relocation is to restore sanity and hygiene due to the environmental degradation going on in the market, which is situated in its border towns with Lagos State.
The ultimatum, which will expire on December 31, according to him, is to allow their gradual departure, after which all stalls, shanties, and makeshift buildings will be demolished.
Oyeleye noted that the state government is daily inundated with reports of unhealthy disposal of waste and open defecation on the median and road setbacks despite the provision of public toilets.
He said: “The state government will therefore not fold its hands and watch a few individuals in the name of trading deface the environment and spread communicable diseases to millions of residents through open defecation, which they have failed to stop despite several sensitisations, appeals and arrests.
“Their bad attitude, which constitutes an eyesore, is also not in tandem with the state government’s policy of attracting investors to the state as the nation’s industrial hub, so the need to relocate the market for the general good of the state.”
Oyeleye argued that the market has outlived its usefulness in that axis and has been overstretched with no space for expansion and proper management.
He also assured the cow sellers and other traders of adequate security and a warm welcome from their host community, adding that their movement would be in phases.
