Rivers State government is taking measures to check flooding and prevent further disaster, a situation made desperate with over 2,000 people in three communities in Ahoada West Council rendered homeless in the latest menace.
At the weekend, flooding produced by heavy rain fall and phased release of water from Ladong dam in Cameroon caused the Orashi River in Ahoada to overflow its banks.
The communities affected include Akinima, Jankroma, and Obie.
“About 50 buildings have been affected in Akinima and no fewer than 1,000 people have been displaced.
“Our farms have been destroyed and crops washed away by the flood. We need an urgent intervention from the government,” an indigene said.
Former Ahoada Caretaker Chairman, Ikechukwu Obusu, who visited some affected areas in Akinima, Obie, and Jankroma expressed shock at the severity of the flood.
Rivers – especially its capital, Port Harcourt, which is on water – often suffers flooding, with lives and millions of naira worth of property being lost in some cases.
Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) has begun de-silting major creeks and canals in Port Harcourt and Obio Akpor Council and its environs to stave off the menace.
People who throw refuse into canals and creeks have been warned that they will be prosecuted under sanitation laws if caught.
RIWAMA Sole Administrator, Felix Obuah, disclosed the measures while inspecting draining projects in Ntanwogba Creek, Mini Nwondugba, Mini Aziri, Mini Ngwolu, and Mini Ekere.
The initiatives are part of Governor Nyesom Wike’s plan to rid the state of flood, he said, noting that free flow of water in all canals and creeks have been hampered by garbage dumped by residents
Obuah, accompanied by his Director of Administration, Ian Gobo, pointed at a fenced wall erected close to the waterway of the GRA Phase 2 end of Ntanwogba Creek, which he warned could cause flooding.
“These are typical examples of blocking the drains and preventing the free flow of water.
“It is as a result of these that [Wike] has mandated that all of these creeks and canals in the state must be cleaned to avoid flooding,” he said, expressing satisfaction with the work being done by the contractors.
Obuah warned that RIWAMA would demolish buildings and structures that block waterways and arrest and prosecute those who dump garbage in them.
