As part of preparations for the yuletide celebrations and 2025 Carnival Calabar, the Cross River State Government, through the Ministry of Environment, has ordered the closure of road side markets dotting a significant part of 8 Miles, Calabar.
Moses Osogi, the CRS Commissioner for Environment, who made this disclosure in Calabar, during November’s environmental sanitation exercise, explained that, “it has become imperative to upscale sanitation in the state capital due to the expected influx of tourists who will troop into the state for the festive season”.
The roadside markets at 8 Miles, Calabar, we were separately informed, apart from the sanitation and environmental threats they throw up, daily obstruct vehicular traffic into the state capital and threaten the city’s aesthetics, failing to compliment the tourism drive of the state, at the moment.
Osogi also noted that his ministry is working tirelessly to ensure that tourists and visitors enjoy the serene and clean environment for which the state is known.
At the 8 Miles flyover, the Commissioner ordered the immediate closure of the string of roadside markets, insisting on the need for a free flow of human and vehicular traffic along the major road into the metropolis. He explained that indiscriminate trading on pedestrian walkways not only obstruct movement but also constitutes an environmental nuisance.
He also expressed displeasure over environmental violations and poor sanitary conditions at the abattoir on Marian, during his inspection of the facility. He described the abbatoir’s environment as unhealthy for both workers and consumers of its products, querying managers of the facility for their non compliance with sanitation regulations.
Osogi informed that the November sanitation exercise marks the last for the year 2025, but assured that other environmental activities such as desilting of drainages, waste evacuation, and pruning of worn out trees will continue to maintain the state’s clean status.
The Commissioner led the Environmental Task Force, ministry staff, NGOs, volunteers, security personnel and the media, through major streets in Calabar, arresting offenders and impounding vehicles belonging to sanitation defaulters.
In separate interviews, some residents expressed appreciation for the government’s efforts to improve the living conditions of citizens, while sanitation defaulters were being tried at the state’s mobile courts.
Credit: Sylvia Okoi
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