Calabar Flood, thing of the Past Soon - Commissioner (10/7/08)
The Cross River State Government has instituted a mechanism to check the perennial flooding experienced in certain areas of Calabar Metropolis when ever it rains.
The Commissioner for Works, Mr. Bassey Ekeffre stated this while fielding questions from news men at the end of the weekly state executive council meeting, disclosing that the Ministry is expecting the design of a proposed channel to be constructed to decongest the flow of rain water in the area.
According to Ekeffre, the Ministry intends to construct a channel from the State Housing Estate across Muratala Mohammed Highway terminating at Ekorinin, depositing into Calabar River, which is a diversion from the Calabar channel one, stretching from the Housing Estate through certain parts of Calabar Municipality and Calabar South Local Government Area terminating at the swampy area of CRUTECH which carries heavy flow of run-off water.
Ekeffre noted that government is sensitive to the plight of those whose property has been destroyed by flood and it is determined to ensure that lives and property are safe when it rains.
On the current construction of roads in Calabar South under the Urban Renewal Programme, the Commissioner explained that the contractors handling the projects have been directed to construct drains so as to minimize the menace of flooding on such roads while calling on communities where such roads are constructed to cooperate with the contractors to make their work easier.
He further disclosed that work on the reconstruction of drains within the Ministry of Finance would soon commence as the ground floor of the office is always flooded when it rains due to poor drainage system there, adding that such reconstruction will be extended to the Governor’s Office, which also experiences flood when it rains.
The Commissioner assured residents of Calabar metropolis that the perennial flooding problems experienced when it rains will soon be a thing of the past.
Government House Press |
