By Christian Njoku
CALABAR (NAN, CONVERSEER) – One year after its launch, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Conversion and Training Centre in Calabar has yet to commence operation.
The plant, which was inaugurated by Governor Bassey Otu on 18th October 2024 at the Construction and Fabrication Academy in Calabar, in a bid to promote affordable transportation and a sustainable energy future, has been dormant.
A visit to the premises of the plant by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that no activity related to CNG was ongoing in the centre
Reacting to the state of the centre, a commercial transport operator, Mr Sylvanus Ada, said that as a union, transporters were invited to witness the launch of the centre, and they attended.
Ada said they were all interested in the project because of the cost-effectiveness of CNG usage in their line of business.
“The information we got from them was that the only challenge we had in the CNG usage was the conversion of our vehicles to make them CNG compliant because the cost of conversion was about N500,000.
“However, we were all still interested because of the economic and environmental benefits CNG offered, but as we speak, one year later, nothing has been heard of the initiative,” Ada stated.
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Similarly, Mr Jonas Peter, who drives commercially between Calabar, Ikom and Ogoja, said the initiative was like many others that would have benefited the masses but that never saw the light of day.
Peter said the Construction and Fabrication Academy in Calabar was established by the former administration in the state for training youths, but anytime you pass through, nothing happens there.
“Last year we were told that the CNG Centre for the conversion of vehicles would be in the same premises. I was sceptical about the whole thing. One year later, I have been proved right,” he said.
Responding to the matter, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ekpenyong Cobham, said there has been a little delay to kickstart the programme in Cross River, but it has not been abandoned.
According to him, the state was doing everything within its power to see how to bring down the cost of transportation which would automatically affect the cost of living.
“The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) is on the verge of visiting Cross River.
“It is not possible for Cross River to abandon an initiative like the CNG project which is very beneficial to the state in terms of the cost effectiveness of CNG,” he noted.
