The Committee set up by the Warri South Local Government Chairman Dr Michael Tidi to uncovers the causes of incessant fire outbreaks at the Ogbe-Ijoh market in Warri has finally submitted their report.
The nine-man committee which was set up by Dr Tidi a few days ago, identified some of the causes to be, the illegal sale of inflammables such as kerosene and the use of substandard electrical materials such as cables in connecting electricity to some shops.
The committee attributed all these as the causes of the two previous fire outbreak at the Ogbe-ijoh market.
Chairman of the Committee, Builder Ekeleni Godwin in a remark before presenting the detailed report to Warri South Local Government Chairman, Dr. Michael Tidi on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, noted that the outcome of the panel was after public hearing and one- on- one engagements with the affected traders at the Ogbeh-Ijoh market, as well as other stakeholders.
The committee’s report revealed that the pattern and spread of the fire at the market in the two outbreak recorded so far can be attributed some ulterior motives, as there are a lot of unidentified persons doing business in the market at nights and high possibility that their unwholesome activities could have been responsible for the recurrent fire outbreaks at the Ogbe-Ijoh market.
The panel which comprises of chairman of the market traders’ union, head of Fire Service Warri, and has Prince Raymond Emiko as Secretary among others, recommended the immediate ban on the sale of any kind of inflammable liquid in the market such as diesel and petrol or its sectionalization to avert future fire outbreaks.
Dr. Michael Tidi while speaking on the reports, thanked the committee for their job and findings, as he disclosed plans by his administration to constitute management committee to oversee the market which has been handed over to the council by the state government, adding that it is part of his efforts to set up proper administrative structure in the market.
Dr. Tidi also emphasized that his administration has the political will to implement findings of the committee, assuring that sanity will be brought to the market within the ambit of the law.