Lamenting on the current state of the market, the Chairlady of the market women, Mamah Kamara said the market lacked proper storage facilities to keep their perishable goods, no toilet facility and as the raining season fast approaching ‘we are afraid of the water that will rain down on us’ owing to the fact that there are countless leakages in the roof of the market, she stated.
“Some of the zincs on the roof have been blown away by heavy wind and as chairlady of the market I have been making a plea to the FCC but no consideration has been given to us”, Kamara stated.
She further explained that the afflicted traders decided to raise funds to renovate the market on their own but unfortunately to their dismay, the FCC went and stopped the renovation process adding that they failed to take permission from Council before embarking on such project.
“Our action was out of goodwill and for our personal comfort and convenient. We do not know why the project was stopped, because we believed renovating the market was in the right direction,” she mentioned.
Mabinty Sesay, a fish monger, in the market raised concern for her health status, taking into consideration the deplorable condition of the market, “I’m old now and if I sell in this kind of market during the raining season, cold would kill me.” She cried.
The Councilor of Ward 389 in Constituency 110, Aminata Gibril Sesay explained that the reason why the roofing of the market was halted was because the market is a property of Council, therefore whatever one might want to do with the market structure must asked for the permission of Council.
“I’m the representative of Council here at Wilberforce Ward 389 and I was not informed about the roofing process undertaken or any other renovation going on at the market,” she explained and said the construction of another market is ongoing.
It could be recalled that in 2015, Mayor Bode Gibson assured the people of Wilberforce that the new market would be built within ten months at a cost of Le2.4 billion.
The building is expected to be situated just a few meters away from the old one at the Wilberforce village, on a piece of land donated to the community by the late Justice Donald Macauley.
