The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has identified funding challenges and huge compensation claims by residents along the Calabar/Itu road as stalling the ongoing renovation of the road.
Fashola disclosed this in Cross River during an inspection visit to the newly constructed Ikom bridge, which is at 92 per cent completion and the 408 metres long Mfum/Bamenda bridge between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The minister said that although contractors are on site doing their jobs, but scarce resources had been a huge challenge affecting the work.
“Funding is partly a problem but also, the fact that Cross River is Nigeria’s rain forest where it rains for almost eight to nine months in a year, this makes it difficult to get the work done.
“In addition, the issue of compensation along that axis has been a challenge; those who want infrastructure must be willing to give some lands.
“We are not taking your lands away, but just asking for the right of way to pass through, so, when you start making compensation claims that almost equals the cost of constructing the road, where will the government get the money.
“I want to appeal to the communities along Calabar/Itu road to allow us pass.
“We will pay reasonable compensation for your crops, but certainly not shrines and other things hurriedly built beside the road to claim money,”the minister maintained.
On the issue of borrowing to fund infrastructural development, he challenged those that government should not borrow to provide an alternative source of revenue.
According to him, one of the major reasons why nations cut down borrowing is because the money will come from taxes, do they want the government to increase taxation?
“Nigerians should endeavour to understand what public finance is and not just criticise the government for borrowing,”he said.
In his remarks, Mr Bassey Nsentip, Federal Controller of Works, Cross River, said 50 per cent of the renovation of Calabar-Oban-Ekang road which leads to Cameroon has been awarded by the Federal Government.
“The distance between Calabar and Ekang border is about 128 kilometres, but only 50 per cent of the road which is the 60 kilometres between Calabar and Oban has been awarded for renovation,”he said.
