By Harris Emmanuel

UYO—Akwa Ibom State Government has taken the administration of former governor, Godswill Akpabio to the cleaners over the lackluster approach to the development of the Ibom Deep Seaport, saying Akpabio only acquired land and never carried out any substantial development of the multi-billion dollars project in Mbo Local  Council of the state.

Akpabio

Commissioner for Lands and Town Planning, Mr. Ime Ekpo made the disclosure during an online media chat, stating that the project only received proper attention when  Governor Udom Emmanuel mounted the saddle of governance.

Newspaper vendors protest alleged harassment by A’Íbom govt agents

He said:‘’Apart from acquiring land, no other thing was done on the project. It is under the present administration that consultants were appointed to prepare the master plans and before such plans are prepared in an area of 14,500 hectares, one needs the topography survey which was never done”, he said.

He commended the federal government for attaching importance to the project.

‘’As we speak, the Tin Can Island and Apapa Ports are totally congested. It takes an average of 42 days for a trailer to go in and come out. This slows down the entire economy. Ours is the most preferred at the moment because it doesn’t require much dredging”, he said.

Architect Ekpo stated that the governor has established a free trade zone to complement the proposed deep sea port.

On the achievements of the governor in barely four years in town planning and housing sector, he said the administration has established new towns, estates and settlements across the state with a view to alleviating the people of the acute accommodation problems.