By Joseph ETTA in Calabar
The Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade has set up the debts review and projects development commission to look into debts obligations of the state.
This is a sequel to the ever-increasing debts profile of the state resulting in the monthly Federal Allocations being depleted by debts settlements.
The committee is headed by a business Mogul, Chris Agara, Architect Bassey Ndem, former managing director of Tinapa Business Resort, Mr Higgins Peter, a businessman and two times commissioner in the state is to serve as secretary.
According to the chairman, in an exclusive interview with Daybreak in Calabar, he said “We have held several meetings so far, looked into many of the books and visited several of the key industries scattered all over the 18 Local Government Areas of the state but have not been able to ascertain the state of indebtedness.
He further stated that the committee is still looking at the actual indebtedness of the state.” since the Advent of Democracy in 1999 to date, we cannot yet confirm the extent of Cross River’s debt”.
Agara remarked that the committee is also looking at all the assets and industries owned by the state which is why it has visited almost all of them. “We will recommend which of them are viable and which should be privatized because we believe that the private sector succeeds better in running businesses”. He said.
He, however, noted that the committee has no power to prosecute any individual debtors or firms but would strongly recommend to the government when necessary.
In another development, the signature projects of the Rivers state government, the superhighway and Bakassi deep seaport, which the Federal Government has now given a Certificate, may equally be privatized.
