The Cross River State Government says it will revoke the certificate of ownership of developers who encroach into green areas and open spaces within the Calabar metropolis.
Commissioner for Environment, Mr Mfon Bassey, stated this during an on-the-spot assessment of green areas and open spaces within Calabar, the state capital, on Sunday, February 16, 2020.
Bassey said that plans were underway to evict occupants from all lands originally meant to be green areas and open spaces.
He said on the sidelines of the assessment that the move was to restore the state greenery and sustain its cleanliness.
He said that the state government was ready to revoke all lands encroached upon by developers without recourse to environmental laws as stipulated by town planning rules and regulations in the course of executing projects.
According to him, before any structural project is carried out, there is need to take into consideration, established rules and regulations guiding the development of the city in order not to impede the progress already made.
The Commissioner lamented the rate at which building contractors encroached on already established green areas and open spaces in Calabar, especially the highway, which is the centre of attraction in the metropolis.
“The law will take its cause on developers who have already contravened, and they will risk revocation of ownership.
“The Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Ministry of Lands and Town Planning will ensure that the right thing is done,” he said.
By George Odok
