Otu inspects erosion site in Calabar South
…Promises Quick Intervention
From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Cross River State governor Senator Bassey Otu has paid a working visit to the Ekeya gully erosion site in Calabar South.
The about three decades old site has been a serious source of concern for the community over the years.
The Ekeya Erosion site is over 15 feet deep and stretches at least three kilometres. It has defied several skeletal interventions by residents of the area and successive governments have turned a blind eye to it’s impact.
Millions of naira worth of property has been destroyed as a result of the erosion and several landlords have had to abandoned their properties as a result of the impact of the crisis.
Speaking while inspecting the site as well as other erosion sites within the Capital city, Sen. Prince Bassey Otu sought the intervention of the World Bank to address environmental issues in the state.
Governor Otu who was accompanied by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, bemoaned the danger posed to residents of the affected areas, and pledged short to medium intervention to safeguard lives and property.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Emmanuel Ogbeche, quoted Senator Otu as saying that the inspection had become necessary for him to familiarise himself with some of the adverse erosion sites in the state capital such as in Lemna/Federal Agriculture and a failed drainage along Yellow Duke Road.
“We cannot allow something like this in the middle of the town. Looking at this it must have taken a lot of lives, and property. The World Bank has intervention programs which I intend to follow up with, and this has informed my being here.
“We will take a look at the drawings, see what the existing plans are and work quickly to safeguard those who live around this area,” the governor said.
He gave assurance to the residents of the areas visited that work will commence on the site in the short and medium term while a long term solution will be provided.
“We are here to work for them. Though resources are limited, we are going to work in the short and medium term to assure them that something is being done as against the long term”, he said.
Governor Otu is the first sitting governor of the state to pay a visit to the Ekeya Erosion site.
