Abia State Government has given November 2021 as deadline to all roadside mechanics and auto spare parts dealers in Aba to vacate their present locations to the Ovom Industrial and Auto Mechanic Spare Parts Cluster near Ogbor Hill in Aba, Abia State.

The government says the move is to decongest the city, as such businesses in Jubilee, Azikiwe and School Roads are against the Aba Mega Plan.

The project has been hailed in many quarters as a developmental stride, but some are against it for different reasons.

Mechanics, for instance, are of the opinion that they will be vacating their comfort zones to a location that is not at the centre of the city. They also fear that they may not have enough spaces to contain cars of their customers.

For indigenes, it is the manner in which government took over their ancestral lands, to build the cluster, without compensation.

Beyond the challenges and criticisms, the idea behind the cluster is one that comes with several advantages and benefits.

However, Abia State government has to do more than demand that mechanics and auto spare parts dealers move to a new location. The target people have to be convinced that their best interest will be protected at the new site.

Therefore, government can do these four things to make the Ovom Industrial and Auto Mechanic Spare Parts Cluster attractive to the target.

1. Build roads leading to the cluster

Roads leading to the Ovom Industrial Cluster are in bad state. It will make sense if Abia state government constructed them and made sure that they are motorable before the November deadline.

It will not be encouraging for the target people to relocate from the heart of town, where there are relatively good roads, to an area that roads are barely motorable.

It will paint the government in bad light, if roads in that neighbourhood are not constructed.

2. Control flooding of Umuajara village

Umuajara is a community located opposite the Ovom Industrial Cluster. Residents of the community say their lives have not been the same since that project came on board.

Some of the residents and indigenes of the community have gone as far as protesting against the contractor handling the project. They blamed the contractor for floods that have damaged their properties worth millions of naira and sacked many from their houses.

There is a possibility that most of the mechanics and auto spare parts dealers will become residents of Umuajara community when they eventually move to the cluster, hence, it is only right that government works on controlling the flood at the neighbourhood.

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