Traders Must Champion Moves To End Touting In FCT Market – Suleiman

Ibraheem Suleiman is the HOD (Operations) Abuja Markets Management Limited (AMML). In this interview with select Journalists, he spoke on Service Charge Management system and a host of other strategies that have kept the Facility Management Company in good relationship with its public. NKECHI ISAAC was there for LEADERSHIP.

Traders are accusing AMML of high charge. What is your take?
The charges are usually discussed and negotiated among AMML, Traders and Service Providers. It is only when these three parties come to agreement that we roll out our Demand Notice based on the figures agreed. This is the approach we use in all facilities we managed. If anybody says the charges are high, it is either he/she is not in the market or just trying to be mischievous. The reason I say this is that the purpose of having a joint session with the traders in determining the payments to be made is to ensure that no party is short-changed and I am sure the generality of traders in these markets still appreciate this methods adopted by AMML.

If the traders are carried along as you claim, why do they still complain?
If at all you see any one of them complaining, it shouldn’t be because they don’t understand or do not get value for what they are paying. It is not because they are being short-changed. It should be probably because every typical consumer would always look forward to a better bargain and in achieving this some of them embark on all kinds of argument. For instance, they may argue that the cost of security will be less if they are allowed to secure their wares themselves; they may also argue that they pay higher than other markets or another adjoining commercial property, and so on. But on both issues we have continued to engage them  and I give it to them- it is only on a rare case that we get such issues coming up. We have continued to explain to them the need to maintain minimum standard and not to cut corners on sensitive issues. We cannot engage waste management vendor or private security companies that are not duly registered and permitted to carry out such jobs by relevant Government and other regulatory Agencies, for the sake of lowering the cost- if we do; experience has shown that the both parties would be the greater looser at the end. Again on comparative analysis on service Charge, the explanation is simple the two major factors that determine this are: the list/quality of services provided and the number/size of service users/facility. We have continued to explain that all things being equal, occupants of facilities with larger number of users will always pay lower rate. That is why Maitama farmers’ market could pay higher than, zone 3 Neighbourhood centre and zone 3 pays higher that UTC and UTC pays higher than Wuse Market and so on. It is just a function of economy of scale.- the higher the volume, the lower the unit price.

Touting is still a menace in the markets. There is a recent report suggesting that it is a thriving business especially in Wuse Market…
We have always held that touting can hardly be eliminated if the traders themselves do not take the driver’s seat in the fight against the menace. On our part, we have tried to identify the genuine traders by issuing ID cards to them. But before we knew it, some traders started registering touts in the name of ‘shop boys’, thereby rendering the purpose of the ID card as it relates to combating touting, ineffective .
With support from security Agencies, we apprehend  touts and arraign them before Mobile courts which sit in these markets and at some other  times, security operatives carry out raids to flush out touts in the markets.
In addition to these efforts, we are still exploring legal openings that will  enable us rope in anyone who harbours  touts in the market. We are thinking so because a tout cannot operate in the market without a shop of reference. He will be like fish out of water. But the good news is that the traders are beginning to appreciate our position, that a market free of tout is in their best interest and that is why  in a recent stakeholders meeting we all resolved that any trader who harbours/ aids or abets tout/touting should be treated as an accomplice.

How has AMML   justified it’s presence to the Market community and the FCTA?
May be I should start by letting  you know that  we were set up to provide facility management services in FCTA-owned Markets and shopping Centres. Abuja Markets Management Limited was envisioned to be a leading provider of Facility Management services in Nigeria, committed to meeting the needs of facility users by supplying services in the most efficient and economical manner, promoting a safe, clean, aesthetically- pleasing and user-friendly environment.
Our mission is to accomplish an optimal functionality of the shopping environment and users’ safety, through the provision of excellent facility Management.
Our facility Management services range from Janitorial & Security Services; Rent collection and service charge administration ;Car Park/ Traffic Management, Provision / Management of health and safety infrastructure , Customer Services to Routine inspection, repairs and  maintenance of buildings, electrical and mechanical installations! Waste  disposal as well as Consultancy services.
These, we have been doing in more that fifteen shopping Facilities in and out of Abuja.
You may be aware of the fact that just before we commenced operation in 2005, the FCTA sanitized  Wuse Market and rid it of  about 12,000 attachments and containers thereby restoring its original design. A decade after, we have been able to maintain that status. Before we came in, shop a lot tees owe rent to Government in most cases for as long as 10 years; today if has become history because AMML collects these rents100 per cent and  promptly too. The same with Garki Model Market where we rebuilt and rehabilitated its decaying infrastructure  and facilities and introduced automated access  system that is the first of its kind in any retail market in the country.
So to answer your question directly, through  the  safe, clean, aesthetically- pleasing and user-friendly environment we offer, we have brought immense value to the shopping environment in the FCT, with the traders as the largest  beneficiaries .
Because of the  sustainable business environment we brought in, a lot more high net-worth individuals and businesses today, fall over themselves to do business with traders in our Markets. Unlike before when Government spend money on the management of Markets in the FCT, AMML though not on Government subvention, collects and remits Government revenue from the market proficiently.
Beyond the facility management function which is our core competence, we have continued to attract other value to the traders by bringing in other ideas that can affect their lives positively such as the introduction AMML. Micro Finance Bank which has made access to micro credit a lot easier and faster to traders.
At the moment, we exploring various options  towards the provision of alternative power supply at an  affordable rate in the markets. This we hope to actualize in no distant time from now.
Unlike their counterparts in other markets across the country, traders in  our markets concentrate on their businesses and  have become better business men and women because they no longer worry themselves about market infrastructure, security, power, traffic and all such other issue- because they have a competent partner, which is AMML.

What are your challenges?
At AMML, we understand that there is no field of  human endevour that is immune from challenge, so we take on  them as they come .For now what we may consider a challenge  which is obviously not peculiar is the problem of power that leads to proliferation of generators in the market. The risk of fire is very high in such situation, apart from the sound and air pollution. It makes the environment very unsightly and unpleasant to shoppers. Though not all the markets have this challenge but we would rather all our markets are free from generator proliferation and we are working towards it as earlier mentioned. Another one is  on the cost of service provision. While the traders  would want this cost reduced, we have observed over time that due to the African business setting where we operate a lot of relations and other hangers-on who are not contemplated by the service charge budgeting system do overstretch both the services and the facilities .What this means is that most of the time a budget that is prepared to cater for a thousand on paper end up being applied for three times the number. But with continuous engagement with the traders and other stakeholders,  I am sure we will overcome these challenges.

Your advice to the traders …
By the number of proposals we receive from states and local Governments   across the country reques

Source: Leadership