Cross River to construct 4,000 capacity park for articulated vehicles – Commissioner

Cross River Government has disclosed plans to build a 4,000-capacity park for articulated vehicles to decongest Calabar roads.

The government said the park would be fitted with basic facilities such as a hospital, hotel, spare parts store, mechanic village, and warehouse.

The design of the park is being fine-tuned and will be built under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Mr. Ekpenyong Cobham, the state commissioner for transport, announced this to the newsmen in Calabar on Wednesday.

The commissioner, who spoke on a range of policies to boost transportation in the state, further disclosed plans to construct bus stops on major roads in Calabar and also introduce a colour code for public transportation in the state.

He said all these were deliberate efforts to restore sanity, enhance security in transportation, and enhance anaesthetics in the state capital.

“The plan is not just for road transportation alone; we are also taking advantage of the state’s advantageous position in the Gulf of Guinea to enhance water transportation.

“For the trailer park, which has between 3,000 and 4,000 capacity, it will create thousands of unskilled and skilled jobs during and after construction and also help to decongest and restore sanity to the city centre.

“It will have three large warehouses, hospital, hotel and mechanic and spare parts village, among other facilities.

“The park will create opportunities for investment in Cross River and will also encourage other players to look in the direction of investing in the state.”

On the colour code and bus stops, Cobham explained that the aim was to complement the government’s effort at securing the state, as well as restore aesthetics to the city.

“Already, various bus stops on the Calabar carnival routes will be completed in the next few days while others will follow suit.

“All we are trying to do is restore a culture of sanity in the public transportation sector by compelling commuters to make use of the bus stops.

“We are also using the colour code to enable security in the city, as we have had several complaints of diversion of buses and ripping commuters of their property.

“We are not oblivious to the present economic challenges, so we are going to give them a reasonable time frame,” he stated.

Cobham spoke on the plans to streamline ticketing for public transportation in the state.

"The ticketing problem is multi-faceted, full of duplicity, high charges, and enforcement.

We are working to streamline them, but we, however, need to be careful in doing this,” he said.