Governor Alex Otti of Abia has ordered the relocation of motor parks along Milverton Avenue, Aba, to a more conducive area.
The decision to relocate the bus terminals followed the upsurge in fire outbreaks in the markets and some other business facilities in Aba, a statement on Thursday by Kazie Uko, his chief press secretary said.Mr Otti announced the relocation of the Milverton parks during an inspection of the Chisco Transport Company (CTC) located in the area, which was recently gutted by fire.
The governor added that the relocation was to allow ease in human and vehicular movements in the area.
“I think it is time we relocated the parks to a more spacious place, we cannot have everybody clustering in a place; this is a recipe for disaster.
“We are going to have a look at those parks in Osisioma and Port-Harcourt Road and ensure that we relocate a lot of these bus terminals in Milverton to those parks so that it can be easy for us to move if there is any incident,” said Mr Otti.
Vehicles and property estimated at hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed in a fire incident that engulfed the Chisco Transport terminus at Milverton in Aba.
Mr Otti expressed dismay over incessant fire cases in Aba in the last couple of weeks, insisting that there were things that were not being done right.
He directed that every business facility in the state should have fire extinguishers installed for easy containment of fire outbreaks, saying that enforcement would begin next week.
In an interview, Uche Wogu, the Transition Committee Chairman of Aba South Local Government Area, described the incident as unfortunate and thanked God that no lives were lost.
He commended the governor as well as the men of the state fire service for rising to the occasion.