The Cross River Government has banned street trading around the Eight-Miles area of Calabar metropolis and urged traders illegally occupying pedestrian walkways to vacate.
The Environment Commissioner, Mr Bassey Mensah, who made the statement during an inspection tour of the area on Friday, urged the traders to relocate their businesses to designated markets.
The commissioner embarked on the tour accompanied by the Chairman, Calabar Municipality, Mr James Anam, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Toll Collection, Mr Bassey Edet.
Mensah said that it was wrong to allocate public roads and walkways to traders with the aim of collecting illegal levies.
He told the traders that it was safer and more economically viable to operate within the designated market.
“We cannot continue to watch people allocate public roads to traders and collecting illegal levies,” he said.
The commissioner ordered the immediate removal of tables, kiosks, wheelbarrows, umbrellas, and other structures and items being used by the traders.
“This practice clearly reduces our status as the cleanest state in the country, it is also blocking pedestrian walkways,” he said.
Mensah said that the measure was necessary to restore safe and unhindered movement for residents and visitors.
He also expressed concern over the indiscriminate disposal of non-biodegradable material and other domestic waste into water channels.
“This practice blocks drainage channels; obstructs the free flow of water; and contributes to flooding,” he said.
The commissioner urged traders and residents to support the government’s environmental sanitation efforts by clearing the drains and participating in community clean-up exercises.
He urged pedestrians to use designated walkways rather than traffic lanes, saying, “compliance will reduce the risk of accidents, it will promote safer movement”.
Mensah warned that defaulters would be forcibly removed by city council authorities and enforcement personnel.
“There has to be sanity and orderliness in the state, especially in the capital city,” he said.
NAN
