Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has expressed commitment to ensuring that the state’s rich agricultural endowment is developed and becomes its economic mainstay. Mr Otu made the commitment when he received the report of the Fact-finding Committee on activities of the Eng-Haut Rubber Industry in Akamkpa LGA in his office in Calabar. He noted that in the past, oil palm, rubber, and cocoa were the mainstays of the region, which encompassed present-day Cross River. He pledged that his administration would rejuvenate the state’s agricultural potential by enhancing the production and processing of rubber, oil palm, and cocoa, making the state profitable.
According to him, Cross River State was renowned for having agriculture as its economic mainstay. In the past the state had all the potentials of rubber, oil palm, and cocoa fully operational and profitable. He said, “I thank the chairman of this fact-finding committee, Maj.-Gen. Okoi Obono, retired, because what they did in the report presented, would impact the state beyond the current generation.
The governor, therefore, pledged to use the report to great advantage and return the glory of the state in agriculture. He said, “I promise to critically look into the report and the committee’s recommendations in order to ensure that the steps to be taken would turn around the fortunes of the industry in the state.”
While handing over the report to the governor, General Obono said Eng-Haut Rubber Industries owed the state N178 million for non-payment of ground rent dating back to 2006. Represented by the committee secretary, David Amlye, he said that the committee made a six-point recommendation, including revoking the Right of Occupancy by invoking Sections 1 and 28 of the Land Use Act of 1978.
He also said the committee believed that due process should be followed in acquiring the company’s land. He added that where compensation was to be paid, the amount should be deducted from the rubber industry’s accumulated ground rent owed to the state government.
