The  Cross River State Government says the planned demolition of structures at the Water Board premises in Calabar is part of a World Bank project conditions and not targeted at any individual.

The clarification follows a demolition notice issued to a building including one belonging to PDP deputy governorship candidate, Alphonsus Eba. The properties is located inside the Calabar premises of the State Water Board.

Special Adviser to the Governor on General Duties, Ekpenyong Akiba, on Tuesday said that the demolition was not to witch-hunt anybody. “It is not targeted at anybody, rather, the action is driven by “overriding public interest” to restore water supply in the state.

He explained that the Water Board facility was originally for water production, with large underground pipes running through the area. He said several residential structures, including staff quarters, were later developed on the land.

“Are there pipes under those houses? If the answer is in the affirmative, then government can demolish your house. Because they want to access the pipes so that people can have potable drinking water,” Akiba said.

He said water projects are usually done with the support of the World Bank and the government has funds which are hanging for over two years. “We cannot site any of those pipes without excavation,” he said.

Akiba added that the exercise is not limited to Eba. He said houses belonging to a commissioner, special adviser, former permanent secretaries, retirees are also marked for demolition as well as other government structures.

“It’s good these issues are coming to the public domain so people can understand if we should continue to support irresponsibility and protect inadequacies”, Akiba said.

The government said there will be no demolition without adequate notice and that provisions exist for relocation where necessary stressing that water supply is not solely for the governor’s consumption but for the generality of the people.

Eba had earlier described the notice as “politics taken too far,” insisting that the planned demolition of his residence is politically motivated.