Ifere Paul|18 January 2017
Dear Hon Commissioner,
I'm sorry I had to use this means to communicate to you. I would have sent a hardcopy letter to your ministry if I were in Calabar. Sadly, I have not visited Calabar and felt at ease ever since I was declared wanted by the Attorney General & Commissioner of Justice.
I must commend you on your efforts to keep Calabar clean. I know the state of the waste in Calabar before you took over as the Commissioner of Environment. I really appreciate the desire you have to keep Calabar clean and green. I appreciate that you also take time to desilt the gutters before the rains will set in. Most importantly, I commend you for the additional drainages being constructed in Calabar South and part of Calabar Municipality.
More than ever, Hon Commissioner, the drainages at Efio-Ette Roundabout needs widening. That section of Calabar is always flooded whenever there is slight showers. Nonetheless, I commend you for a great job so far.
However, I am writing this letter to draw your attention to a calamitous landslide, or earth stumbling that is about to take place in Calabar. If care is not taken, it could trigger a mini sectional earthquake and may take down a section of the Parliamentary Extension and its connecting roads, buildings, and other structures.
Hon Commissioner Sir, I was informed through a post by one Owai Obo, that you and the Hon Commissioner of ICT paid a visit to a gully site along the Calabar-Ikom Highway in Biase. I was also made to be aware that other sites around Biase were visited. And that commitments have been made by you and your colleagues to look for immediate means to fix the gullies. It is very good that you visited that site and saw the gully first hand.
Much as I believe in your ability to fix the gullies in Biase, I thought it way out of place that there existed one of the worst gully in Calabar Municipality. This gully is a popular gully because it is very close to where so many powerful politician in Calabar lives. And for the past one year and nine months, Ud Ofem and I have been calling the attention of government to this gully but no one bothered.
Hon Commissioner Sir, let it not be in your time as Commissioner of Environment that we will have an earthquake that should have been avoided. You should be reminded that no matter the legacies you will leave behind, a calamity like landslide that would destroy people's properties and government roads would be remembered more than the good works you're trying to leave behind.
The gully has also contributed to insecurity around the area. Hoodlums now use that axis to escape police chase. Last week, residents of this neighborhood were robbed at gun point. This is after arm gangsters robbed and killed one Ejike, a trader in Bedwell who was the person mobilizing funds from residents to do palliative work on this gully last year.
Please Hon Commissioner Sir, do something about this disaster that is about to happen. Thank you.
I remain as always, Your Sincerely,
Ifere Paul.
