TheCable

Christian Ita, chief press secretary to the governor of Cross River state, says over 6,000 applicants applied for positions in Calabar Garment Factory and the state’s Green Police.

Ita disclosed that most of the applicants are youths and widows of the state origin.

“Since the job vacancies for the two projects were advertised a few days ago, over 6,000 applicants have so far submitted their resume to the office of secretary to the state government (SSG) and forestry commission,” he said.

“This is in line with Gov. Ayade’s promise during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, to rekindle hope by breaking the vicious cycle of employment.”

Ita said that the garment factory and the Green Police were two of several projects designed to create over a thousand jobs for the teeming unemployed population to mark the governor’s first 100 days in office.

“Ahead of its commissioning in a couple of weeks, the garment factory is expected to absorb hundreds of women, mostly widows while the Green Police will employ about a thousand youths,” he said.

He said the Green Police was a non-arm bearing organisation established to protect the state’s vast forest reserve and the environment in general.

Ita said the governor, while conceiving the two projects, saw them as a more institutionalised way of empowering the people, rather than giving them handouts as empowerment which was basically unsustainable.