by crossriverwatch admin
Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke has promised to intervene and cure the three fingers of the gully erosion that resulted to landslide and killed a family of seven at Edim Otop area of Calabar Municipal Area Council of the State.
Imoke made the statement when he paid an on the spot visit to the area to condole with the deceased families and inhabitants of the area.
Represented by a high power delegation made up of Commissioner for Works, Barrister Legor Idagbor, his counterpart in the Environment, Dr Sandy Onor and the State Security Adviser Mr. Rekpene Bassey, Imoke said the loss of lives and properties in the area was avoidable if people had listen to the various sensitization by the various government agencies to move away from the disaster prone areas.
He assured that government will commence immediate intervention to ensure that those leaving around the environment are protected from future disaster while assuring the families of deceased that government will support them.
“His Excellency the governor of Cross River State who would have love to be here in person but was out of the state due to the demand of his office heard what happened and was deeply troubled. He had sent us here to come and find out in first hand and report back to him what the position of things are so that action can be taken immediately.
“Its unfortunate that it involved lives and the governor is deeply touched and sent his condolences to the bereaved families and relations as well as the people living in the area. Hon Legor Idagbo,Commissioner for Works said.
On the problem of erosion that is eating deep into the main road leading to Akpabuyo in Atimbo Area, the works commissioner said immediate intervention shall commence.
“Those other areas was as a result of improper channel of the water from the drain, we will work closely with the commissioner of environment to channel the water properly and solve the problem permanently.
“The intervention will commence immediately, because the road as you can see is threatened, if something is not done immediately, the erosion will cut off the road into two in the next couple of days, so we are not going to wait for any day longer to begin the work as His Excellency has given us the go ahead to commence the immediate intervention”.
On his part the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Sandy Onor said “It is very clear that leaving in this kind of place and tampering with the vegetation is very dangerous because the top soil will be exposed and the house will collapse.
“Let us assure you as you can see all of us here because our governor value his people that is why he sent us here.
He said his ministry had advertised to solve the erosion problem in the area in collaboration with the World Bank.
“We will intervene and will cure all the fingers of the gully, that will happen very shortly but before then let our people take responsibility and live right and do what is the right thing to keep them alive.
The Environment Commissioner said the erosion project would be jointly undertaken between the State and the World Bank, stressing that the state government has paid its portion of its counterpart fund while advertisements for the World Bank portion are on for competitive bidding in line with international Best practices.
The State Security Adviser, Rekpene Bassey said the eagle eyes of security operatives will be on the people of the areas while urging them to live responsibly and not to foment trouble.
While thanking the governors’ representatives, Mr. Amos Akaniyene who lost his wife and six children to the disaster called on the government to assist him in whatever way they can assist.
He said he moved to the area with his family from a rented apartment in less than two months with happiness not knowing that he will lose all his family that he suffered to build the house for.
He told the governors’ delegation that he has lost every body and properties saying his life is exposed to danger as there is nobody to support and console him.
follow us on twitter @crossriverwatch