The Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (IKOMCCIMA Ikom branch, with stakeholders in the business community have raised the alarm over what they described as power outage in Ikom LGA of Cross River State.
The electricity failure, they said, creates setbacks in businesses within the affected area.
The group whose focus was on border and waterways in central and northern Senatorial district of Cross River State, charged the state and federal government to declare a state of emergency for electricity in the LGA and of course, in other major urban towns in the north and central senatorial district of the state claiming not to have electricity in the last four months.
President, Ikom Chambers of Commerce, Mrs. Flora Agbiji Takim-Ndifon, gave the charge on behalf on the group while speaking with LEADERSHIP at the end of the second Council meeting which took place yesterday at Ikom, the commercial nerve city of Cross River State.
The Chambers of Commerce president, who spoke on the theme: ‘Economic Potentials of, Current Challenges and way forward in the central and northern Senatorial district of Cross River State’ stated that, power outage, which slows business growth, had caused many businesses to operate at lowest ebb.
The group called on Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs), and other pressure groups to mount pressure on relevant government agencies that can take action towards the completion of transmission stations to improve electricity supply in Ikom and major urban towns in the central and north senatorial district of the state.
“The persistent lack of Electricity in the Central and Northern Senatorial District, particularly Ikom which is the main business hub of the state, has hampered business activities in the area.
The area manager averred that, power supply to the Ikom LGA is transmitted from transmission station in Abakalike, Ebonyi State, stressing that, despite Federal Government’s approval to site 3 transmission stations in Ikom, Obudu and Ogoja LGAs 10 years ago, none of the proposed power stations had seen the light of the day due to lack of political will to make this work.
“IKOMCCIMA hereby calls on the State and Federal government to declare a State of emergency for in the LGA and in the North and Central Senatorial District of the state”. The group maintained.
Other issues which stakeholders of chambers of commerce want the state and federal to address include multiple taxation and levies imposed on business men, a development which stakeholders said had been responsible for slow pace of business within the area.
They called on the state government to provide fire fighting equipment in the two senatorial district given the number of fire incidents that had occur with no equipment to be used by our fire fighters to tackle the inferno.
In a paper presentation, guest lecturer and Prof. In Agric Resources and Marketing Economics Dept, University of Calabar, Prof Sylvanus Abang, called on young people to invest in agriculture to better the economy of the nation rather than touring round the world in search of greener- pasture or white- collar jobs.
