Competent government sources have informed calitown.com that if CRS governor, Liyel Imoke gives his nod, in a matter of weeks, the state government will introduce a Waste Evacuation Service tariff, beginning with Calabar Metropolis and spreading to other urban centres in the state.
The tariff proposal which was sent to His Excellency by the state Ministry of Environment is said to have been influenced by government’s huge payments to three waste evacuation companies, Jozo Ltd, Taconsu Ltd and Patson Ventures, responsible for evacuating waste generated in Calabar. Records made available to calitown.com, show that the state government spends an average of more than N40 million a month to keep the state capital clean. This high expenditure cost, proponents of the new tariff say, must be shared between government and residents of the metropolis who generate the waste. Contacted on the phone to say how much was being proposed, a source said, “we are looking at an amount between N500 to N3, 000, depending on the size of the household ad sincerely it is about time people paid for the waste they generate so government can concentrate on providing other services in the state”.
However in a swift reaction, a resident of the metropolis, Jacob Edet told calitown.com that “government is talking about asking us to pay a waste evacuation tariff, definitely another form of tax for a people already over taxed. I think the insensitivity is getting out of hand. They want us to pay this tariff and then those in government will bring in their brothers and cronies from outside the state to come and hurriedly float companies to undertake waste evacuation. I think Imoke’s team is running out of ideas”.
Others have however risen in support of the soon to be introduced tariff, saying it is a step in the right direction and further that government cannot be paying for everything.
