Anambra markets fire: PDP gov aspirant blames Obiano’s govt

A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in the  2021 poll in Anambra State, Dr Obiora Okonkwo, has blamed the government for lack of care to traders in the state.

He said such negligence was part of the cumulative causes of incessant fire incidents in markets in the area.

He said the revenue the traders generated in form of taxes, rates and levies were not used proportionately to better their workplaces.

He stated this on Saturday when he donated a trailer-load of cement to the victims of a recent fire disaster at Auto Spare Parts Market, Obosi in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

He said despite the taxes the traders paid to the government, they were not being taken care of, stating that the markets were poorly equipped.

He said, “You people pay taxes, rates, and duties to the government which is good. Government uses that to work for the people. But I can’t see the presence of government in this market. Government has not done anything here.

He added that he was pained with the frequent fire incidents witnessed across the state recently; saying that time had come for preventive mechanisms to be put in place to forestall recurrence.

“We are here to sympathize with you on the recent fire incident that wreaked havoc in the market. We have witnessed so many incidences of fire disaster in our dear state and we are sad about it. We don’t want to keep visiting scenes of fire disasters to sympathize with victims.

“What we want to do now is to discuss with traders on how best to prevent future occurrence. This is because prevention is better than cure.” Punch