Stop paying lip service to flood control, Bayelsa tells FG

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Stop paying lip service to flood control, Bayelsa tells FG

The Bayelsa State Government has called on the Federal Government to stop paying lip service to the issue of flood mitigation and control in states that would be adversely affected by the menace this year as forecast by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.

The state Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made the call when a joint delegation from the International Organisation for Migration, United States Agency for International Development, and the National Emergency Management Agency paid him a courtesy call in Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his media aide, Mr Doubara Atasi, the deputy governor expressed concern that the Federal Government and its agencies seemed not to be bothered about the sufferings of the people living in flood-prone states.

Describing the lackadaisical approach of the Federal Government as worrisome, he maintained that the country appeared not to have learned any lessons from the 2012 and 2022 devastating floods, but only good at issuing flood alerts.

Ewhrudjakpo said depending on international agencies for foreign aid at all times was not only demeaning but also anti-development, and therefore, called on all relevant stakeholders to proffer sustainable homegrown solutions to the problem of flooding, which is fast assuming a perennial dimension.

He used the opportunity to inform his visitors, that the state government was currently carrying out massive construction works particularly on roads that were badly damaged by last year’s flood.

While appealing to the Federal Government to quickly partner with Bayelsa State in its mitigation efforts and take steps to avoid a recurrence of the 2022 flood experience, he however thanked the United Nations partners for their show of concern towards the state during last year’s flood.

Ewhrudjakpo said, “The response from the Federal Government as far as we are concerned has not risen to the level that will convince us that they took what happened in Bayelsa State seriously.

“We are aware that immediately after the flood, about N800bn was requested from the National Assembly for emergency maintenance of roads, infrastructure, and other facilities that were badly affected.

“Until now, the Port Harcourt to Warri section of the East-West road, which I traveled on recently, is still very bad and the same Federal Government, as usual, is only predicting that this year’s flood would be worst than last year.

“We are not persuaded at all by the reaction of the federal government and I am directing this to NEMA; we do not think that your fire brigade approach has changed anything.

“We must make a concerted effort. The President gave ninety days ultimatum to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to come out with plans to see how we can mitigate and avoid a repeat of what happened in 2012. But as far as I know, that issue is still in the pipeline.”

Earlier, the Field Coordination Officer of the IOM, Mr. Tsegaye Asrat, said they were in the state to monitor projects being embarked on by their agency toward flood mitigation in the state.

Asrat added that the IOM would be working closely with the State Emergency Management Agency to achieve maximum results before the 2023 floods.

The field coordination officer was accompanied on the visit by a NEMA representative, Mr Chidiebere Ogundu, and officials of the USAID, including Jacqueline Straeme and Adesina Stella.