By Paul Onwude, Kaduna
The Sheikh Abubakar Gumi Central Market in Kaduna is in darkness since 2021. This revelation was made by Alhaji Aliyu Dikko, Chairman, Collectives of Central Market Unions, who stated that despite the payment of N42,250 service charge meant to cover electricity, water, security, and sanitation paid by every trader in the market.
According to him, to add insult to injury, the Kaduna State Market Development Management Company, (KMDMC), on Friday 13-01-2022, imposed a flat VAT fee of N3,000.00 payable on the Service Charge.
The Traders, further complained of unfavorable trade and economic policies of government is hampering their business, for example, Trucks conveying their goods to Kaduna, can not come into the market during business hours based on the directives of the state government, and this is making Truck Owners to refuse to transport their goods to Kaduna. The Government, he further alleges, expects Truck Drivers to pack their Trucks outside the city and Traders to get smaller vehicles to transport their goods from outside the city to their shops in the market but that will increase the cost of doing business and hinder profitability.
Insisting that these, situations are now making Traders to begin to move out of the state to other states with favorable policies to do their business.
These issues were raised with the Kaduna Market Development and Management Company’s spoke person, Mr. Richard Anthony, but he declined comments that he needed to clear with his management before he can comment.
However, reliable sources informed this Medium, that Traders did not pay their 2021 service charge on time, until the KMDMC started locking-up their shops in the last quarter of 2021 before some of them started payment, even at that, some of them only paid half of the said amount.
Besides, the said darkness in the Central Market is actually due to breakdown of the Transformers serving the Market which Kaduna Electric is already working on, he maintained.
Notwithstanding, KMDMC, has been providing other services to the Traders in the areas of security, sanitation and provision of water, therefore, traders are called upon to pay up their services charge for 2022. Available document confirmed the imposition of N3,000.00 flat VAT rate on service charge.
