By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The government of Anambra State has kicked off the construction of over 1,200 open shops in the capital city of Awka to alternate for the demolished shanties and roadside shops.

This was disclosed by the Managing Director of Awka Capital Territory Development Agency (ACTDA), Ossy Onuko, in Awka on Tuesday.

He said that the open shops are already being constructed along Club Road, aka, Abakaliki Street, adding that more shops will also be constructed at designated junctions within the Capital City.

Onuko added: “We have a passionate government and we understand the plights of our people today. What we are doing is to restore law and order in the state by ensuring that our streets are free of inordinate and uncoordinated street trading and shanties everywhere”

“We are not also oblivious of the fact the society as it is now is facing serious economic challenges and hardship.

“As a result of that we are deliberately and consciously making efforts to provide alternatives for the street traders that were evicted from where they were.

“Go to Club Road and you will see the construction of over fifty open stores for those people that were evicted from the shanties”

“Go to Regina Celi the Keke operators have been given a park and we have also identified five places we call Solution Arena and we shall have those open stores that are built with the state of the art facilities”

“It would have boreholes and wash places where they can go to wash their fruits and vegetables and avert the attendant health challenges of displaying fruits and vegetables along the streets where they gather dust and exposed to contamination”

The ACTDA boss further stated that the traders are not going to pay for the shops but a token for the cleaning and maintenance of the shops and their environment.

His words: “They are not going to pay rent for those stores but small money for cleaning and other maintenance and this is a novelty in the history of governance in Anambra state.”

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