Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke said the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is one of the component channels, if properly deployed, capable of boosting the economy of the state, especially in revenue generation.
The governor said this when he received members of the organised labour, led by the state Chairman of NLC, Mr. John Ushie.
He explained that there were many loopholes in the country’s economic system which needed to be appraised for correction, noting that members of the union should make the necessary contributions.
Imoke said that issues of revenue allocation formula, subsidy, location of tank farms, export processing zones, exploration of quarries, establishment of cement industries and the status of federal roads, were areas the congress could make its impact felt with a view to generating more revenue to the state.
“Revenue generation formula has to be reviewed because it creates imbalance. The location of tank farms within the Export Free Zone is not economical because despite the environmental hazard created, operators do not pay revenue.
“Subsidy should be based on consumption with the state having the highest consumption of petroleum products paying the highest subsidy, while federal highways should be dual carriage ways. But here, our state roads are better than federal roads, the benefit of this is that it will allow the state to raise more revenue for its interests.”
On the relationship between the state government and NLC, Imoke observed that there was need for government and labour to understand each other, adding that even if there was a misunderstanding between them, it should be on principle and in the interest of the citizenry.
