By Bukola Adewumi
Abuja – The Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) on Monday issued certificates of allocation to allottees of market shops and warehouses at the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Estate at Lugbe in Abuja.
Mr Lawrence Onuchukwu, the Vice-Chairman of AMAC, handed over the certificates to the shop owners at a ceremony, against the background of shop owners lamenting poor facilities in the market.
He said this was in fulfilment of the current administration’s promise to correct the anomalies in the process of shop allocations and operations of all the markets in the council.
“When we assumed office about two years ago, we met a near bastardised market structure in the council with related conflicting and disenchanted cases.
“Titles of our market properties were all valueless and worthless in the public domain due to proliferation, fraudulent practices and racketeering by miscreants.
“And, as a result, the public especially business men and women lost confidence in our market properties or titles,” Onuchukwu said.
He said the burden of regaining the lost confidence weighed heavily on the council.
“As a responsible government willing to repair its damages and uplift standard of the markets, it has to embark on formal verification.’’
Onuchukwu said the verification and re-certification exercise enabled AMAC to provide accessible data for all the council’s markets, adding that it came out with harmonised allocation letter for re-issue to allottees.
“The process of verification and recertification is meant to confer originality and value to all markets’ certification of allocation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Atu Oluchi, the chairperson of FHA AMAC Markets, said the council had been unfair in its dealing with allottees, adding that provision of basic amenities were lacking in the market.
“We don’t have light, and there are no roads. The soak-away is an eyesore and I personally built the gate leading to the market,’’ she said.
Oluchi said the council had abandoned the market for years, adding that the foodstuffs section of the market remained a disgrace to the market.
She then called on the council to put it in order.
One of the beneficiaries of the allocation Mr Nick Ilonuba, however expressed happiness with the new innovation of issuing certificates of allocation.
“AMAC is the first area council in the FCT that will be doing such,’’ he said.(NAN)