By Abasi Ita, Calabar
Over 500 residents of Ikot Uduak, in Calabar Municipality have relocated to temporary shelters having fled their homes due to menacing gully erosion rattling the area.
Already, residential apartments valued at several billion of naira are now at the brink of being consumed by perennial landslide perpetually instigated by gully erosion which has swallowed several buildings in the past years,according to community leaders.
Conducting journalists around the gully prone site, a community leader in the area, Chief Clement Ene attributed to momentum of the gully erosion to years of government neglect and insensitivity towards the plight of his people.
According to Chief Ene; Donald Duke tried his best by checkmating the growing threat emanating from the gully then through interventions by Ministry of Works. During the last administration, we succeeded in attracting the World Bank to bankroll the construction ring road network and embarkment to permanently arrest the menace posed by the gully”
“Unfortunately, the job was abandoned due to the caldestine activities of the then administration which attempted to impose an incompetent contractor on World Bank through NEWMAP for the job,,the result is this abandoned project”
Also speaking, a construction expert, Engr. Edet Udoh implored the government to come to their rescue by promptly initiating remedial measures to save their property from imminent destruction.
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He revealed that” At the moment over 50 houses erected with hard -earned savings abandoned by the owners are now at the mercy of the elements and might not survive the next rainy season unless there is an urgent intervention from government. We have exhausted all communal initiatives to arrest this menace”
Udoh appealed to the state government to replicate the concrete based ring road at Eyo Edem, Ikot Eyo and a flyover to decongest the recurring gridlock from Akai Efa and Effio Ete Roundabout to Ikot Efa through Ikot Uduak axis given its strategic location from the Jonathan by -pass.
In their separate interviews,, Elder Bassey Asuquo and Mazi Jude Eze lamented the lack of government presence in the area and concrete action to tackle the mounting threat posed by gully erosion revaging the area.
Other concerned members of the area who spoke with Weekend Chronicle during inspection of the gully erosion site expressed dismay that despite their strategic location in the heartbeat of the state capital, Ikotlacksak lack basic social amenities like s chools,centers,centres and accessible road network.
They expressed optimism in Governor Bassey Otu to address erosion threats but also to provide basic social amenities lacking in the area to give them a sense of belonging.
Ikot Udsemi-urbani urban community is sandwiched between Akai Efa and Parliamentary Road with over seven entrance roads in deplorable conditions.