CALABAR — The Cross River State Business Men’s Forum has commended Governor Bassey Otu’s administration for reducing taxes, daily ticket fees and other levies imposed on low-income earners and operators in the transport sector NEGROIDHAVEN can say.
The forum said the measures had eased the financial burden on traders, commercial transport operators and other vulnerable groups while putting more money in their pockets.
The President of the forum, High Chief Henry Onwe, stated this on Sunday in Calabar while speaking with journalists after a meeting of the association, which endorsed Otu for a second term in office.
Onwe said the reduction in daily charges and exemptions granted to some categories of operators demonstrated the administration’s consideration for low-income earners and small businesses.
He said, “His Excellency has drastically slashed daily ticket fees and exempted vulnerable groups like women and elderly commercial drivers from paying taxes and others from multiple taxation.”
According to him, tricycle operators’ daily ticket fees were reduced from N1,200 to N500, while commercial minibus rates were cut from N850 to N500.
He added that women working in commercial transport and male drivers aged 60 and above who own their vehicles were exempted from vehicle registration fees and daily operational levies.
Onwe further said inter-city drivers’ ticket charges were reduced from N1,350 to N750, while private park operators’ charges were adjusted to N450.
“These reductions have put more money in the pockets of these people and boosted their welfare,” he said.
The forum, which it said comprises more than 10,000 business executives operating across various sectors in Cross River State and the diaspora, also commended the administration for what it described as its engagement with the organised private sector.
It said the government’s collaboration with market traders, artisanal groups and youth entrepreneurs across the 18 local government areas had contributed to supporting businesses and livelihoods.
Onwe also cited the administration’s recently announced $1.07bn public-private partnership investment package as an indication of what he described as the government’s effort to attract private capital and stimulate economic growth.
He said the package, following the approval of 16 projects by the State Executive Council, covered sectors including agriculture, renewable energy, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, infrastructure and environmental sustainability.
According to him, the projects would require continuity to translate into jobs, investment and other economic benefits for Cross River residents.
The forum therefore called on Cross Riverians, trade unions and corporate associations to support Otu’s bid for a second term, saying continuity would enable the administration to consolidate its policies and programmes.
Onwe said the forum had supported the governor since his first year in office, adding that it believed another four-year term would provide an opportunity to consolidate the administration’s development agenda.
