Over 500 illegal structures in the popular Karmo market in the Federal Capital Territory are being demolished by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in conjunction with the Department of Development Control.
Assistant director, sector monitor in the Development Control Department, Tpl. Garba Jibrin, during the exercise, said that the Administration decided to demolish the market because the area had been encountering lots of challenges because of the market since inception of Abuja.
According to Jibrin, there have been serious traffic gridlocks on the Karmo Road which has made it very difficult for motorists and residents of the area to access the road on daily basis. “So, for us to make it easy for Abuja residents, the minister said we should open up the road by ensuring that all the bottlenecks along the road are cleared.
“Part of it is the informal commercial activities along the road. It is a known fact that everyone who wants to pass here on a market day spends hours without passing across.“So, the FCTA is concerned about the health and safety of every resident. There is a market that is opened, and fully built and waiting for the traders to come and occupy it.
“So, based on that, we have settled this problem here, that they should move away from here and relocate to the new market that has been built for them to occupy,” he stated.
The assistant director while speaking on how far the Administration went in sensitizing the traders, said that they were fully notified, sensitized and carried along in the demolition exercise.
