As part of deliberate efforts to decongest Calabar roads, the Cross River State Government has said it would build a 4,000-capacity park for trailers in the state’s capital city, Calabar.
This announcement was made by Mr Ekpenyong Cobham, Commissioner for Transport, on Wednesday while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
According to Cobham, the 4000-capacity trailer park would be built under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement and would be fitted with basic facilities such as a hospital, hotel, spare parts, mechanic village, and warehouse.
- “For the trailer park which is between 3,000 to 4,000 capacity, it will create thousands of unskilled and skilled jobs during and after construction and also help to decongest and restore sanity to the city centre.
- “It will have three large warehouses, a hospital, a hotel, and a mechanic and spare parts village, among other facilities.
- “The park will create opportunities for investment in Cross River and will also encourage other players to look in the direction of investing in the state,” the commissioner explained.
Other new policies on transportation in Cross River
While speaking to NAN on new policies to boost transportation in the state, the Cross River State Commissioner of Transport further disclosed plans to construct bus stops on major roads in Calabar and also introduce a colour code for public transportation in the state.
Cobham emphasized that these policies were aimed at enhancing the aesthetics of the capital city, as well as restoring sanity and enhancing security in transportation, in the state.
- “Already, various bus stops on the Calabar carnival routes will be completed in the next few days while others will follow suit.
- “All we are trying to do is to restore a culture of sanity in the public transportation sector by compelling commuters to make use of the bus stops.
- “We are also using the colour code to enable security in the city as we have had several complaints of diversion of buses and ripping commuters of their property.
- “We are not oblivious to the present economic challenges, so we are going to give them a reasonable time frame,” he explained.
Also, the commissioner said the state government was planning to streamline ticketing for public transportation in the state.
- “Ticketing problem is multi-faceted, full of duplicity, high charges and enforcement.
- “We are working to streamline them, but we, however, need to be careful in doing this,” he said.
