The Chief of Staff to the Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Emmanuel Ironbar, has warned residents within the Calabar metropolis to shun the unwholesome act of turning erosion gullies into sandbanks, where sand is harvested and sold in commercial quantity.
Ironbar, who spoke to newsmen after a recent on-the-spot visit to erosion sites in Calabar to ascertain the progress of government's intervention at the Bakoko erosion gully, charged erosion - prone communities to wake up to the call of preventing residents from indulging in such environmentally harmful activities, as they aggravate erosion menace in the city.
Restating the Governor Bassey Otu-led administration's commitment to ease the erosion challenges plaguing the State, the Chief of Staff further warned those who have made erosion gullies their stock-in-trade to desist forthwith, as government would not condone any attempt to scuttle its efforts in that regard.
Expressing satisfaction at the quality and pace of work going on at the erosion gully, Ironbar noted the palpable expressions of relief the intervention has brought to residents of Bakoko community, assuring that, baring any unforseen circumstances, the erosion control project should be completed in the next two or three months in line with the contractual expectation.
He also assured Cross Riverians that the State Government is determined to intervening, one after the other, on all erosion-threatened areas of the State.
"The present administration's mandate is hinged on the 'People First' and that is why, in spite of the state's financial situation, Governor Otu has been resolute in providing basic infrastructure, healthcare, education, among others for the citizens. "Our Governor is a leader who sees the welfare of his people as most paramount.
He is committed to remedying all failed portions of the roads, beginning with Calabar, the State capital, then to other parts of the State," the Chief of Staff reassured.
By Ebi Collins, The Beagle News
