BY MARILYN KING
232NEWS, FREETOWN
The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, (NASSIT) on Tuesday 8th August 2023, took journalists on a progressive report tour at the Sewa Grounds Market and the newly constructed market stalls.
This visit was to give a full update to the press and progress made so far and the challenges thereof.
Speaking to the press, the Architect, Engineer, and protection management consultants Engineer, Abel Onomake, gave an overall objective of the project, He said the project is called Sewa Grounds Market and is located in the Central Business District, (CBD) of Freetown. He furthered that the market consisted of (7) seven units. He said the buildings were being constructed when they took over. He said out of the seven lots, two of them were brand-new buildings, and the others were inherited. He stated that lot one (1) is a single market building and occupies 70% of the entire site, and it has open market stalls, where the Sani Abacha Traders will be given to operate. He said Lot two (2) is a brand new toilet lot with 40 toilets. He said they decided to remove the toilet lot from the market stalls for hygienic reasons. He said Lot three (3) is the warehouse lot, and it has 82 warehouses, and these warehouses contained cold room facilities in case of perishable foods to freeze. Lot four(4) is all about infrastructure, and it has drainages, fencing of the market, lighting at night, power supply system, CCTV Camera system, water supply, and also one hundred thousand liters of water tank also provided, and 40-50 car parking spaces. Lot five (5) is the second new building and it will accommodate the police post has fire services, has a space on the ground for fire engines and overnight stays, and small holding facilities for males and females, and also be having space for nursing mothers to taking care of their babies, and it will have an emergency facility for anyone having emergency injuries, and it will have an office for NASSIT Staff, and Freetown City Council (FCC) for collection of market dues. Lot six (6) has the largest size of lockable shops within the market vicinity that consisted of one hundred and seventy-two lockable shops, six insurance companies, and restaurants, and has a dependable toilet facility. Lot seven (7) has smaller locked-up shops, and it will be provided for traders and businesses, and it has two hundred and seventy-seven shops in the building of Lot 7, and has its own toilet facility. He said they have a total of one hundred and seventy toilets within the market, and it already caters to hygiene factors and sanitary factors. He said the market has 500 stores for business people to keep their goods. He concluded that the market will be completed at the end of September to mid-October this year, and they will start advertising while the completion is taking place.
The National Chairlady for Traders, Mrs. Gina Alie, said the traders are constrained, and they need the market stalls, she said she is pleading on behalf of the market traders for them to be considered. She also said they are always at Sewa Grounds to assist the workers so that the work will finish on time, and they always cook food for the workers. She thanked the President and NASSIT for the wonderful market stalls.
