Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Uno Eno, has inspected the International Market project at Eket Local Government Area, in his determined efforts to reinvigorate economic activities and provide a conducive environment for traders to engage in their business ventures.
In an interview with Government House reporters shortly after inspecting the market, Governor Eno who restated his commitment to completing the project, to underscore his campaign promise of taking over projects executed by his predecessors and ensuring its completion, emphasized that government is a continuum.
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He acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic halted the project in its advanced stage of execution, stressing that it must be completed and put to use, to enable the state government rid the street of traders which have become nuisance to the beauty of the metropolis and pedestrians.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade And Investment, Oliver Udoukpo, who conducted the governor round the project, explained that the market, built on two floors, has two thousand eight hundred stalls and a large parking space to accommodate the customers and traders coming for transactions in the market.
He hinted that the government would sublet the stores for those engaging in various businesses on a thirty percent discount, after the initial token paid to acquire the shop which is expected to be repaid in five years.
Government house correspondent Jane Uwa reports that the Governor was accompanied by top government functionaries including the Deputy Governor Dr Akon Eyakenyi; Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah, and the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Trade and Investments, Oliver Udoukpo, amongst others.