Kunle Awosiyan
The Lagos State House of Assembly is not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring that the government rids off street traders.
The assembly said that it would be coming up with Market Authority Bill, 2024, which will be used t curb street trading and illegal enterprise structures in the metropolis.
The lawmakers informed that the bill, if passed, will address the issues of registration, formation, organization and operation of market associations.
During a one day public hearing, the House Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said that the bill will also ensure cleanliness, orderliness in the state’s market.
Obasa, represented by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mojisola Meranda, also stated that traders will be compelled to adhere strictly to the environmental laws through the proposed bill.
“This bill has come at the very right time because with this important bill, our markets can be well regulated and coordinated,” Obasa began.
“It will bring about modern practices whereby everyone that owns a space in the market would be properly identified with their exact location.
“The most important aspect is also to regulate and recommend policies to the government regarding problems on market affairs.
“This includes fair pricing with modern best practices. It would also bring about structure for management of these market places
“The quality of the eventual law would be dependent on their contributions, either through their memoranda or oral addresses.”
The House Chairman of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Rural Development Commitee, Okanlawon Sanni, mentioned that the bill would correct the anomalies in the extant law and would make it mandatory for markets to be duly registered.
Sanni said, “The bill would address the issue of formation because there were lots of indiscriminate formation of markets.
“With this law, you cannot just create a market, the bill provides that before you create a market, you must be up to 50 people.“They have to register with the local government. These people will also go to the state market to register the association. This is to strengthen the law and to ensure that there is peace and harmony in the market.”
This is coming at a time a study identified lack of proper market setting in Lagos as one of the factors contributing to heavy traffic in the state.
The study, “Street Trading Activities and Its Effects on Traffic Flow by Mojeed Olayiwola Giwa of School of Transport and Logistics,and Joel Ayodeji Asaju of the Lagos State University assess market activities and the challenges on traffic flow in Igando Bus-stop.
The study shows that poor market infrastructure and government regulation has led to on-street trading, which eventually reduces the width/carriage capacity of the road and consequently impedes traffic flow.
According to the research, 73 per cent of the traffic is caused by lack of enough space at the market, which causes traders to seek customers at roadside and as such creating traffic volume while buyers buying goods mostly parked at the roadside.
The study also observes that many of the old markets built by past administrations in the state lack enough parking space causes drivers to alight passengers at available space and this enhances traffic volume.
At most of the markets, the study reveals that there is no road pavement for pedestrian and such creates heavy traffic delay.
It also revealed that 84.2% of buyers buying goods at the market especially where traders display their wares at the major roads causes traffic delay while 80.9% lack enough parking space causes.
Coupling with lack of proper traffic control of truck/lorry drivers to load and offload goods at any available, traffic builds up, the study shows.
Reacting, the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), said that the government would be constituting a taskforce to help tackle the menace of street trading across the state.
LAGESC Corps Marshal, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (Rtd), said,“We are going to constitute a taskforce for street trading to patrol every nooks and crannies of the state. Street trading and hawking remain banned according to the state’s environmental laws.
“We have stepped up daily enforcement operations to reduce the spate of street trading to erring traders and hawkers in the habit of displaying wares for sale in traffic, lay-bys, setbacks, medians, road verges, and kerbs,” he said.
However, the study gave some recommendations as it concludes that the existence of market activities should not only be viewed in negative light but also seen as an integral part of the overall economic system and as such, an employment generator.
It called on government to work more on policies to deal with informal sector market activities with much attention given to the future needs of the existing business as well as increasing demands of entirely new forms of activities.
“Planners and decision makers seem to be ill equipped with lack of adequate information and framework to express how the explanation of the past processes as well as current location patterns can be linked through to the provision of future controls,”it said.
It called for the readjustment of the existing situation for effective implementation of any commercial planning policies.
It urged the government through the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Development authority to embark on structure planning for the study area within the context of the Lagos metropolitan plan.
“”Also effective policies should be made by the government to regulate all forms of street trading activities along Lagos roads for instance, compliance with the set back and marketing level should be regulated and controlled but hawking on
the highway should be banned due to the risk hawkers are subjected to and the negative roles it play in traffic delay,”it said.