FLOODING:BAYELSA GOVERNMENT URGES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BUILD DAMS, DREDGE RIVER NIGER

Inorder to avert future flooding, the BAYELSA state government has called on the Federal Government to be proactive by building dams and dredging the River Niger to contain excess water release from Cameroon dam whenever it occurs.

No fewer than 300 communities in Bayelsa have been sacked by rampaging flood rendering over 700,000 persons including children, women and the aged homeless, many of whom are now taking refuge at the various Internally Displace Persons (IDP) Camps across the state.

The state Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy, Hon Ayibaina Duba, who made the appeal in Yenagoa, also pleaded with residents of the flood-ravaged state to desist from building on water channels, noting that disregard for natural water channels contributed to the current flood situation in the state.

His words, “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 on us.”

He called on the populace to be conscious of the environment and ensure proper disposal of refuse, saying “most drainage systems in the state were discovered to have been blocked by refuse including discarded plastic bottles and polythene bags.”