Oyo govt to restructure Alesinloye market

Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde, has disclosed his administration’s plan to restructure Alesinloye Market in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area to prevent a recurrence of the recent fire incident that resulted in the destruction of goods and properties worth millions of naira.

Governor Makinde made this known during an on-site inspection of the market on Tuesday.

He noted that the incident had left the victims financially incapacitated but assured that the government would take necessary steps to cushion its effect.

According to him, the fire incident was so devastating that the presence of a fire station in the market could not prevent its spread.

He added that the government would work on the market with a view to putting in place a proper architectural structure that could avert future fire incidents.

Governor Makinde also ordered the suspension of the planned demolition of a section of the market until a proper alternative had been provided for traders.

He added that the state government, the Ibadan South-West Local Government, and the Ibadan South LCDA would work on cushioning the effect of the fire incident on traders in the coming days.

“There are two things out there. One is to organise the market itself, because right there where the fire broke out, there is a fire station, but they could not stop the fire.

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“So, we have to ensure that we do whatever is necessary to make sure the fire station is functional.

“Two, there is a place that the local government is going to demolish and I have told the chairman that the place should not be demolished until an alternative is provided for the people.

“We will be working on that together within the next few days so that we can cushion the impact of the fire incident on the people.

“We have provided some palliatives for them and I told them too that we have to work together to ensure that this kind of thing does not happen again.

“We have to enlighten the people. It is better to avoid anything that can lead to a fire incident than to curtail it. So, the advocacy should be that people should store things, especially things that have the potential to get burnt, with utmost caution.”

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