Jos Central Market: Lalong Speaks On Disquiet Over MoU With Jaiz Bank

Christian and Islamic leaders in Plateau State have expressed divergent views after a meeting with Governor Simeon Lalong on the propriety of an agreement with Jaiz Bank over the management of the Jos Central Market.

GreenWhiteGreen GWG reports that Jaiz Bank with the agreement of the Plateau State Government is providing funding for the reconstruction of the market with the proposal of managing the rebuilt market for 40 years.

The bank would also operate 60% of the stores with the government controlling 40%.

However, Christian leaders in the state are said to be miffed by the proposal on the claim that Jaiz Bank is an Islamic bank and that they could be played out.

At a peace meeting on the issue on Saturday with the leaders of the two faiths, Gov Lalong expressed concern that politicians were using the market project for propaganda, claiming that the market had been sold to the bank in question.

He explained that the arrangement for financing was purely a business decision based on Public-Private Partnership model.

The bank would finance the project for the contractor and at the end of construction, 60 per cent of the shops would be administered by the bank and the contractor for 40 years.

The other 40 per cent would be administered by the state government for the same duration.

The governor explained further that the 40-year period was for a sub lease for buyers to recoup their funds, adding that at the end of the period the shops would revert to the Jos Main Market Authority.

Lalong directed local government chairmen in Jos to conduct sensitisation meetings in their areas to ensure understanding of the project’s terms of financing and sharing.

He urged Plateau people not to resist development and scare potential investors from establishing businesses in the state as in the instance with the Jaiz Bank MoU on the Jos Central Market.

The Plateau Executive Council had earlier approved the reconstruction of the market at a cost of N9 billion. (NAN)

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