Chinedum Treasure
Baring last minute intervention of Anambra State Government in the disagreement between traders in the state and President General, PG, of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders’ Association, ASMATA, Chief Humphrey Anuna, over payment of signage levies, the situation may snowball into severe market crisis.
Briefing newsmen in Onitsha on the issue, Chairman of ‘Concerned Anambra State Traders’ Association’, Chief Peter Nweke, stated that ‘Make-way boys (an arm of ASMATA), in collaboration with Signage revenue collectors, have started extorting money from traders as ‘Signage levies, describing the collection as illegal.
“They are going round the markets in the state to collect what they call signage levies in each shop. They demand levy payment for shop numbers and inscriptions written on walls and we want the state governor, Soludo to intervene before the situation gets out of hand.
“We were told by AIRS chairman, Greg Ezeilo, that all these payments have been channeled to one central source, General Purpose Levy,” he stated.
When contacted, an APGA Chieftain in Onitsha South local Government Area, and former chairman of Onitsha International Electronics market, Dr. Izu Okoye, warned that if such signage levies is collected, it will discourage traders from voting for Governor Soludo’s second tenure bid adding that it amounts to double stallage collection on the traders.
“It is this year that traders started paying increased stallage fee and ASMATA leadership came up with payment of signage levy for shop numbers and inscriptions placed on shops thereby making it double payment for traders same year.
“This if not stopped immediately will lead to market crisis and I personally called the ASMATA PG and Special Adviser to the Governor on Trade and Markets, Hon Evarist Uba, telling them about the signage levy collection. The PG insisted that government is aware of the collection.
“Traders and state government are in good terms and this has to stop immediately to avoid market crisis. Even when the PG was the chairman of Old Tyre market this thing did not happen. It is improper to levy traders over inscriptions on their shops in the name of signage levy,” he fumed.
In a swift reaction, the PG reiterated that it is only those with sign boards, bill boards and sign posts that will be levied adding that the exercise will commence tomorrow, Thursday, not today as alleged.
“Levy collection has been going on before we took over from those doing it. We did that for the betterment of the traders and government is aware we have taken over the collection. We are not going to collect leyi in shops as alleged but outside the shops.
“Before now traders have been informed and it is in the ASMATA newspaper that signage collection will now be handled by ASMATA. There is no way we will ask traders to pay for shop signage,” he affirmed.
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