Implement presidential directive on flooding, Bayelsa govt pleads

The Bayelsa State government has urged the Federal Government to quickly implement the directive of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ameliorate the inhuman living conditions of the over one million persons who are displaced in 300 communities of the state by the surging flood.

Buhari had on October 16 expressed sadness over the devastation caused by the natural disaster in Bayelsa and directed all emergency authorities of the government to provide all necessary assistance to the state.

The Commissioner for Environment and chairman of the State Flood Mitigation and Management Committee, Mr Iselema Gbaranbiri, made the call at the Oxbow Lake Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Yenagoa.

He said that more than 4,000 homeless individuals and families were being sheltered and fed daily at the Oxbow Lake IDP camp alone, stressing that the Governor Douye Diri-led administration was also taking care of a similar number of victims at the Igbogene and other IDP camps.

According to him, the delay in the implementation of the presidential intervention towards the emergency in Bayelsa had continued to reinforce the feeling of neglect by the Federal Government among the flood victims.

Iselema, who led officials of the committee on a routine inspection of the camps, said: “We need Federal Government’s urgent intervention.

“Whatever we are doing here (at Oxbow Lake IDPs camp) is being replicated at the Igbogene camp and other camps. Medical services have been provided. We are providing food, and we have our sanitation unit that is cleaning the camps daily. We ensure that there is lighting.

“The government of Senator Douye Diri is passionate about the people and we have an obligation to stand by them in times of crises and challenges.”

He added that relief items, including foodstuffs, had also been distributed in the first phase with mobile clinics going around to handle medical emergencies, while the second phase of distribution would be carried out in earnest.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr Ayibaina Duba, called on the Federal Government to take urgent steps at preventing future flood disasters by building dams and dredging the River Niger in order to contain floodwaters from the Cameroon dam.

He also appealed to residents of the state to desist from erecting buildings on natural water channels, stressing that disregard for responsible environmental practices had contributed to the current flood situation in the state.

Duba said, “We call on the Federal Government to do something about this flooding. They said it was the dam in Cameroon that is causing it. Let them do something to contain the water when Cameroon releases the water. If they are to build reservoirs, let them build because we have come to realize that all the water empties to us.”

The Bayelsa Information, Orientation and Strategy Commissioner advised the people to be environmentally conscious and ensure proper disposal of refuse as many portions of the drainage system were discovered to be blocked by wastes, including plastic bottles and polythene bags.