By Frank Ulom
Former Governor Ben Ayade’s administration left a system that needed the Ministry of Transportation in the new dispensation to start afresh, says Pastor Ekpeyong Cobham, Commissioner for Transportation.
Cobham stated this Sunday during a stakeholder engagement held via Zoom by the Cross River Movement (TCRM) hosted by Iso Bassey.
Speaking during the virtual event tagged “Civic Engagement Series: Transportation”, Cobham said Governor Bassey Otu’s administration took up the Ministry from scratch, acknowledging that some of the challenges the Ministry faces are relics of the old order, which can not be washed away overnight.
The Transport Commissioner also hinted that a contract for the restoration of new street lights for the State’s capital, Calabar, was awarded in 2023, adding that the Ministry has resolved to take up its responsibilities one at a time.
As reported by CrossRiverWatch, Cobham said: “First of all, one of the biggest challenges of the state government, as it relates to public transportation is traffic obstruction and the littering of the city with trucks and tankers.
“Plans are in the advanced stage under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, to bring in investors who are going to build a four thousand-capacity trailer park and restorative the mass transit scheme to help bring down the cost of transportation; its work in progress.
“If you look around the city centre, you will see that we have begun the restoration of our bus stops, we plan to also build 50 more bus stops so that haphazard dropping and picking of passengers which creates a lot of traffic challenges will be behind us.
“Government is supposed to be a continuum, but when a government comes in and you are challenged by the fact that you don’t have a reasonable foundation to build on, you will start from scratch.
“Basically in my ministry, we’re starting from scratch. I am saying this with all sense of modesty. We had to set the foundation because some of the challenges we are facing today are relics of the old order and you can not wash them away overnight.”
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Speaking also, Offiong Ikpeme, founder of the Offiong Ikpeme Foundation, said, “From what I have seen recently in the State, there is a lot of development, we are seeing certain changes in the State. But like the bypass area, the tankers are causing difficulties, and the roads are terrible.”
On his part, Efio-Ita Nyok, Political Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of Negroid Haven, while drawing the attention of the State Government to traffic and other matters, lamented the state of the Odukpani road and called for more efforts towards maritime transportation in the state, as well as a policy to regulate the number of passengers stuffed in public vehicles.