May 17, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
Traders in Deep Eye Water, Constituency 111, who have for decades gone without a market space, have now breathed a sigh of relief and heaped praises on the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) for constructing a new market worth over four hundred million Leones.
Deep Eye Water market was officially opened past Saturday and according to the Headman of the village, Alhaji Ibrahim Sesay, the traders’ wish have been fulfilled finally having cried out to the previous ruling APC party for market to no avail.
He said with the intervention of the SLPP Member of Parliament, Hon. Horace Vincent, the people of Deep Eye Water village can now boast of a modernized market structure which has been lacking since the discovery of the village being an APC stronghold.
Member of Parliament representing Constituency 111, Hon. Horace Vincent informed A-Z Newspaper that the money spent on the construction came from his pocket to demonstrate that his party is a talk and do party. He said when he assumed the position; those in the opposition were saying that he would not deliver. “But I have delivered on my promise to provide them with a market”, he told the gathering during the launching ceremony. He expressed the need for the people in the village to take care of the structure and help provide security so that unscrupulous individuals would not take advantage of the situation to destroy the market structure. According to Hon. Vincent, he has not yet completed two years in parliament but has done extremely well more than expected within a short time taking over from John Sati Kargbo of the APC who was removed from that position by the court.
In attendance during the launching ceremony, were the Deputy Ministers of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. In his statement, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Rev. Abraham Jones called on the traders to avoid the habit of crooking buyers.
He said Sierra Leoneans are orchestrating wickedness to themselves by inflating prices for their selfish desires. He said the Poapa government of President Dr. Julius Maada Bio is having sleepless nights trying to sanitize trade in the country. He spoke of the reintroduction of trade monitors to monitor the markets for price control. He commended Hon. Vincent for using his resources to build market for his people.
Councilor, for the Ward 394, Mohamed A. Koroma said the construction of the market has face lifted his ward making it easy for the residents to access food stuffs without going through the huddles of transportation to reach Waterloo.
Surprisingly, some unscrupulous persons clandestinely destroyed some of the zinc sheets on top of the structure whilst authorities were busy trying to put modalities in place to launch the much awaited market. Initially, the market site was awash with filth to sabotage the construction exercise but “Paopa” the work went on although no defaulter has been caught.