Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
News  

Akwa Ibom seeks federal assistance to tackle erosion

By Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh, Uyo
17 November 2015   |   4:36 am
THE Akwa Ibom State government has appealed to the Federal Government to come to its aid in tackling the erosion menace that is currently ravaging parts of the state. The Commissioner for Special Duties, Etido Inyang, who made the appeal at the weekend while fielding questions from reporters in Uyo, said it became imperative following…

Erosion-09-03-2015THE Akwa Ibom State government has appealed to the Federal Government to come to its aid in tackling the erosion menace that is currently ravaging parts of the state.

The Commissioner for Special Duties, Etido Inyang, who made the appeal at the weekend while fielding questions from reporters in Uyo, said it became imperative following the lean resources at government’s disposal occasioned by the unabated fall of oil prices at the international market.

Inyang, who is also chairman of the local planning committee on the forthcoming global engineers’ conference to be hosted in the state next year, said the enormity of the crisis at hand was life-threatening as collapsing ravens were also creating gullies that had worsened the situation.

“The ravens are collapsing, forming gullies and threatening lives and property. The Senate came for inspection and we have shown them the areas.

“For instance if the state government had not intervened at the Calabar/Itu and Oron erosion sites, Cross River would have been cut off from the rest of the country and then movement would have been seriously undermined in Oron, thus affecting economic activities in that area. And these are federal roads.

“Even with the state government’s intervention, the Federal Government has not reimbursed it for what it has done. So, they should come and intervene just as they are helping other states”, he stated.

The commissioner, however, blamed climate change and the flat topography of Uyo for the menace.

0 Comments