It has been revealed to www.calitown.com that the overflowing refuse bins which have been a permanent feature in the last one week and a half in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, can be traced to the paucity of funds currently affecting the smooth operations of government in the state. Government sources say it is however unfortunate that the contractor handling the evacuation of refuse in the Calabar Municipality may have shown in the last couple of days, “a clear lack of faith in the CRS government’s ability to offset her debts”.
One source was specific that “incidentally this contractor is normally paid promptly because of his rumoured links to the governor’s wife. He is paid N18 million monthly to evacuate refuse in the Municipality and now he has pulled back his trucks insisting they can only return after he has been paid”. It was leaked to www.calitown.com that “when the Ministry of Environment did the initial assessment of the refuse evacuation job, it suggested that N12 million monthly will do the job, but the contractor’s friends made it N18 million, let them not complain, let them pay.
The contractor’s extreme position is said to be responsible for the marching orders Gov Imoke gave the Ministry of Environment to intervene and see how it can rid the Municipality of refuse.