New Telegraph

Traders, developer bicker over abandoned N13bn Alade Market project

Traders at the Alade Market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja have appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene in the construction and contract execution of a N13 billion Mega Alade Market Mall project which has been abandoned since 2016 by a Developer, Masters Realities International Concepts Limited.

The Alade Marketers Association, through its legal counsel, Ms Yetunde Fashesin-Souza, lamented that four years after Ikeja Local Government signed a-30-year concession agreement with the developer in 2016 with their consent; the company has failed to rebuild the market and turn it into a mega mall.

Speaking to newsmen Thursday, Ms Fashesin-Souza said that the local government also tried in compelling the developer to move to site, but he only made complaints which are not tenable towards executing the contracts which has been signed since 2016.

According to her, the market traders, who are the allottees of the project, were moved in 2016 to a temporary site at Allen, called Odo Iya-Alaro (a flood plain area), in order to enable the developer complete the redesigning and rebuilding of the old market.

“The fiscal planning department gave the company a temporary permit to put the marketers in the flood plain area (as a temporary site) pending the completion of the project.

“But it’s already four years down the line and nothing asides fence work has been done on the project. So, the traders are now pleading with the governor to intervene and order the developer to commence construction in accordance with the terms of agreement it entered with the owners of the land, Ikeja Local Government in 2016, so that they can move back to the permanent site of the market,” Fashesin-Souza said.

The lawyer further said that the worries of the traders arose from the fact that the temporary site, where they now occupy, has become endangered.

“As a result of the nature of this area, the shops of these traders are often flooded and due to the activities of the river, most parts of the land have been washed away, while the concrete and iron bridges built for vehicles and pedestrians, respectively, have collapsed.

“My clients want to move back to the old site of Alade Market, as stipulated in their agreement. They are not selling here. Business is dull but regrettably, there is nothing on ground to show the readiness of the developer to commence reconstruction on the land.

“The environment here at the temporary site is no longer conducive and has become a health hazard,” she said.

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