Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River has described the deplorable state of the Calabar-Itu Road as an albatross to the people.
Otu who made the statement at a press conference in Calabar on Tuesday, said that many lives had been lost as a result of the poor state of the road.
He said that the Calabar-Itu Road, which connects Cross River and Akwa Ibom to other parts of the country, had not received adequate attention.
“Motorists and travellers face untoward hardship along that road. Sadly, there seems to be no end in sight to the sufferings.
“The deplorable state of that road has negatively affected the economy of our state,” he said.
The governor said that the state government had taken several steps to ensure that the road received Federal Government’s attention.
“The problem of that road is bigger than the state. We even accepted to pay compensation in the midst of our scarce resources.
“We shall continue to do our part, we are not going to rest until something concrete is done on that road,” he said.
Otu said that the Calabar-Itu Road would have become completely impassable without the interventions of the Cross River Government.
In another development, Otu has disclosed that the state government will take delivery of two new aircraft in March.
He said that the development was part of plans to resuscitate Cali Air, the state-owned airline.
“The plan to resuscitate the airline is to provide alternative transportation system and to ease up travelling experience for residents and visitors.
“We know the trouble our people face in terms of flying into the state, all this will change when Calli Air is back.
“We have worked on the engines of the other aircraft in our fleet, we are in the process of receiving additional two aircraft by March,” he said.
The governor said that the Obudu Cargo and Passenger Airport was also receiving priority attention.