The Enugu State Government on Tuesday expressed dismay over what it described as “a total disregard and breach of the undertaking made by the Ogbete Main Market Traders Association and the Pharmaceuticals Dealers Association”.
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The state commissioner for information, Mr Chidi Aroh, made the government’s position known in a statement in Enugu said:.
“At a meeting the Enugu State Government held with market leaders and security agencies, it was unanimously agreed that the Ogbete Main Market, Enugu, will be partially reopened on May 4, 2020, in the overall interest of the public.
“This is after leaders of the two market associations undertook that they will strictly abide by the agreed conditions and protocol issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which includes the observance of social distancing, high level of personal hygiene and the compulsory use of face masks”.
“Unfortunately, the conditions were violated on the first day of the partial reopening of the market,” he said.
Reacting to the development, the commissioner expressed deep concern over the implications of the breach to the overall health and safety of the citizens of Enugu in this critical period of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
He added that the state government had, therefore, directed the leadership Ogbete Market Traders Association and the Pharmaceutical Dealers Association, to abide by the conditions for the partial and guided reopening of the market.
Aroh warned that the state government would act swiftly to protect the health and safety of the people of Enugu in the event of any further breach of the conditions for the partial and guided reopening of the Market.