Forest destruction: C/River govt urged to pay compensation

The ongoing construction of 260 kilometres superhighway by Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has resulted in massive destruction to the vast forests in the state.
Forestry experts and environmentalists among which is Mr Odey Oyama have called on the governor to begin to draw up list of affected communities, farmlands, houses and other properties for compensation.
Speaking to Daily Trust in Calabar, Oyama said “he would also want to know the compensation schedule for the properties that would be knocked down in the process of constructing the 260 kilometres superhighway. It is very possible that people’s farms, houses, structures, even the vast forests would be pulled up. Ayade needs to compile assessments of these properties that would be affected and draw up compensation lists. He has not done all that. Yet he has launched the road and has even pulled economic trees, houses and farms.”
Oyama said whereas the governor has listened to public outcry regarding the imperative need for environmental impact assessment that rerouted the road away from the Cross River National Park, “yet when you look at the survey plan, it is just by the park. And the area it has been routed to now is called the buffer zone of the park.
“Buffer zones are lands that cut through the National Park legitimately. They are the protective shelves. They cushion the effects around the park. This road is going to affect it.”
According to him, “British and Nigerian governments have invested much in the forests of Cross River State generally to put up what they call the sustainable management of the forest. There is a particular conservative programme which was to be funded by the European Union and Nigerian governments in that area. But now that area is to be completely destroyed.”
He also alleged that the state government has concluded discussion with an American finance firm, JP Morgan Chanly, to take over one million hectares of the forest in exchange for half of the state debts.