Akwa-Ibom community erosion project has been left undone despite the sum of N330 million allocated to the project by the state government in three years respectively.
This is even as community residents say they have undergone hell as a result of the predicament the erosion is causing in the area making lives unbearable.
The Akwa-Ibom government in the year 2020 allocated the sum of N100 million for the construction of an erosion control project at the Ekpeneton Erosion site in Afaha Oku area of Uyo state.
Worse still, the state government had in the years 2017 and 2019 had budgeted the sum of N230 million for the same project.
Despite the state allocation of N330 million to the same project in three years, nothing has been done, while the community residents continue to suffer devastation from the erosion.
The Akwa-Ibom state government is notorious for abandoned projects while monies are often allocated and released for them.
This is even as Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the Akwa-Ibom state governor presented N597, 800 billion with a capital expenditure of N369, 642b, for the 2020 fiscal year, a budget Mr. Emmanuel said is for poverty alleviation and industrialization.
Udeme, a public accountability organization that visited the project area confirms nothing has been done on the project site while the environment continues to deteriorate and community residents suffering.
A state senior official, who spoke to MAWA Foundation via telephone and does not want his identity disclosed, accused the state government of corruption and lack of accountability in the ways it administers the state affairs.
He, however, accused the state officials particularly the political class of conniving with others to divert resources meant for the state using contract awards as a cover.
A top party chieftain, who spoke to MAWA Foundation, said the project is not likely to be carried out because monies meant for such are for the compensation of boys as their share of state resources.
He added that it is possible all the monies for the project have been released and beneficiaries have taken their share leaving community residents to suffer the impact of the erosion.
MAWA Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Akwa-Ibom state government for a response.
Credit: Udeme