Commercial activities in Asaba, the Delta State capital, is set to get a major boost as the new wing of the Ogbogonogo International Market with over 1,412 lock up shops nears completion.

Already, subscription to the shops is recording remarkable response from the business community with the Delta State government pledging to use the market as a launch pad to transform Asaba into a major commercial and business hub, leveraging on its proximity with other commercial centres in the southeast.

The Director General, Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency, Hon. Mrs. Joan Onyemaechi Mrakpor, stated this while on an inspection tour of the project site.

Conducting Mrakpor round the site, the contractor handling the project under public-private partnership, Chief Ekwe Ogidi, said apart from the 1,412 lock-up stores, an open space section provided in the market will accommodate 500 traders.

Ogidi who is the chairman of Ekwe-Ogidi Integrated Resources Ltd, the company handling the project, pledged to complete the project on schedule.

Speaking to newsmen, Mrakpor who was accompanied on the tour by top officials of the agency, expressed satisfaction with the execution of the project.

“I have been here before but I needed to meet with the man in charge, Ogidi, the developer. The last time we were here, he wasn’t here. We had a meeting in the office and we agreed to come back.

“Now, we have come back here and we have gone round. I think I am impressed, first with the speed of work and second with the quality of work”, she said.

She commended the contractors for following the design of the project which was given to them by the DSCTDA.

On the strategy to tackle the problem of street trading, Mrakpor said it will be taken care of by the structure that is being put in place at the new market.

“I believe that when you have a proper structure for people, they will do the proper thing. The Consultant Engineer has assured that they have taken care of that with open spaces for them to do their trading”, she said.

She frowned at the level of adherence to environmental standards at Ogbogonogo Market, noting that it is not just the problem of only the traders, but also that of the government.

“If I say don’t dump your refuse here, I should provide a place for you to dump it elsewhere. So, when government does the needful, I believe that they will do the needful”, she said.