The Cross River State House of Assembly Residential Quarters in Ekorinim, Calabar, has been wrecked by flood and erosion, with the perimeter fence pulled down, a duplex and hospital structure nearby completely destroyed.
This alarm was raised yesterday in Calabar, on the floor of the House during a Matter of Urgent Public Importance moved by the member representing Akamkpa 11, state Constituency Mr. Linus Bassey.
The lawmaker decried the collapsed erosion control system in both the Assembly Residential Quarters and Office Complex.
Presenting the motion, Bassey said the quarters, built in 1977, is now in a deplorable state with collapsed erosion infrastructure that endangers the lives and property of honourable members, their families and staff.
He said members now live in palpable fear whenever there is heavy downpour, now a daily occurrence in Calabar.
He told the House that the perimeter fence that prevented flood from entering the quarters was recently pulled down, while a duplex behind the quarters and a hospital structure close by were brought down by flood.
Bassey also raised alarm over a ravine around the quarters posing serious danger to buildings, and a gutter at the main entrance to the office complex that keeps deepening, with a deep gully underneath the road that could collapse at any moment.
After plenary, lawmakers embarked on an oversight visit to the landslide site at Anansa Road and the erosion site at Ekorinim.
At the quarters, the Leader of the House, Rt. Hon. Francis Bassey Asuquo, warned. “What started as a very small narrow path has developed into a gully erosion site which keeps expanding. If nothing is urgently done, it will develop into something more devastating,” he stated.
In his remarks, Cross River State Commissioner for Works, Engr.Pius Edet, who joined the oversight, lamented the deplorable state, and said, “The issue of erosion and landslides in Calabar has become a recurrent decimal due to heavy downpour.”
The commissioner stated that 75 erosion sites have been reported in Calabar metropolis and assured that government will take swift measures to redress the situation.
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