Ernest Chinwo
19 November 2008
Cross River — Cross River State government has said it has modified the $36 million Calabar Monorail project, designed for passengers from the Margaret Ekpo International Airport to Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort.
Government said funds for the project would rather be used to develop an intra-city rail route, starting at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, through some densely populated areas of the calabar metropolis, before getting to Tinapa.
The State Governor, Liyel Imoke, who disclosed the policy shift in Calabar, in his presentation of the 2009 budget proposal to the State House of Assembly, said the state had to reappraise the project, because of delays in commencement of full commercial operations at the Tinapa Business Resort.
Imoke said, "delays in the commencement of full commercial operations at the Tinapa Business resort led to reappraisal of the development of the Calabar Monorail route. The state government decided that funds for this project would be utilised to develop an intra-city route, starting at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport through certain populated areas of Calabar, and along the Murtala Mohammed Highway, up to the Calabar City Gate and subsequently to Tinapa."
He said construction of the new intra-city route would commence in 2009, while the original phase 1 route to Tinapa, would be developed after full operations at Tinapa justifies its undertaking.
The ground breaking ceremony for the Calabar Monorail Project took place in April, 2007, during the administration of governor Donald Duke and was scheduled to be completed in August 2007. The project is funded with the support of the African Export and Import (AFRI-EXIM) Bank.
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