The Commissioner for New Cities Development in Cross River, Mr George Abang-Ekpungu, has described Gov. Ben Ayade’s projects as “viable and relevant’’ to the economy of the state.
Abang-Ekpungu made the statement on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
He said that Ayade’s two years in office as governor had transformed Cross River from being a civil service state to an industrial hub following the viable projects executed by the governor.
He highlighted some of the projects to include, the completed garment factory, the ongoing Calabar 21 Mega Watts Power Plant and the state Rice City.
He mentioned others to include the construction and rehabilitation of rural roads across the state, mass housing for low income earners among others.
The commissioner commended the governor for delivering two years of effective and vibrant governance, adding that salaries of civil servants in the state are always paid as at when due.
According to Abang-Ekpungu, his newly created ministry had recorded successes in the area of developing new tourism cities with a view to boost the state revenue profile.
He explained that the ministry embarked on the establishment of three new cities across the state with a view to attract development to the areas.
“When Ayade came on board in 2015; he created the Ministry of New Cities Development with the objective of developing the cities to complement the tourism nature of the state.
“Shortly, we designed three new cities for the state; Centicort for the Central senatorial district, Nostradam for North and Calasvegas for the southern senatorial district respectively.
“Work on these three new cities is seriously ongoing. For the Calavegas city, we have done the first comprehensive survey of the 61 hectares twin island and a detailed sand search to sand-fill the island.
“Before the 2017 carnival, we are expecting to sand-fill the Calavegas city which is across the marina beach and do at least a club house where we will begin to generate revenue.
“All these projects are economically viable because they have great direct impact on the people of the state’’, he said.
Abang-Ekpungu called on residents of the state to support Ayade’s administration, adding that the governor was committed to the welfare of civil servants and the overall development of the state. (NAN)