By Sylvia Etta
A total sum of Eighteen billion, One Hundred and Sixteen million, Nine Hundred and forty-seven thousand, One Hundred and thirty-three naira and two kobo has been earmarked in the 2015 budget estimate of the Cross River State Government for the completion of ongoing projects in the state.
Governor Liyel Imoke who made this known while presenting the 2015 appropriation to the State House of Assembly, Friday night said that the completion of ongoing projects was necessary in order to give the incoming administration a proper take off, and listed the projects to include the Margaret Ekpo Airport by-pass, the Nyaghasang network of roads, the Urban Renewal Projects in Calabar, Ugep, Ekori, Obubra, Ikom, Ogoja, Obudu, and the Okangha Mkpansi network of roads.
Other projects are the Boki network of roads, Okuni-Agbotai-Nsofang-Mkpot road, Channel 2 underground Drainage in Calabar, all the ongoing Rural Access and Mobility Projects (RAMP) and Rural Development across the state, and disclosed that the economic sector has the highest allocation in the 2015 appropriation as according to him, “this is understandable as the sector is expected to stimulate the entire economy of the state and create jobs for our unemployed youths”.
Governor Imoke also disclosed that the sum of Three billion, Seven Hundred and Three million, Nine hundred and One thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-five naira and Forty-six kobo, has equally been set aside for the completion of projects he tagged, “Specialist Projects”, made up of the Calabar International Convention Center and the Tinapa Resort, the Ikom and Ogoja stadia projects, the Calabar Indoor Sports Hall, the New Cafeteria Complex at the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), the Calabar Energy City Project and the Akamkpa Toll road project.
On the aspect of infrastructural development, Governor Imoke disclosed that the sum of Two billion, Five Hundred and Fifty million, Ninety-nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Forty-one naira and Fifty-one kobo is allocated to the sector in 2015 budget proposal, explaining that, “we had adopted an ambitious and holistic development blueprint which seeks to achieve total electrification of our state in the not-too-distant future. In 2025, we shall complement this effort by completing all ongoing electrification projects in the state”.
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