Delta orders evacuation of residents from flood plains
Asaba — DELTA State Government says it had learnt lessons from last year’s nation-wide flooding that affected the state and has therefore, ordered persons living directly within the flood plains along the coastal regions to vacate immediately, following predictions by the relevant agencies, of another massive flooding this year.
Speaking with Vanguard in Asaba, yesterday, state Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Dr. Tony Nwaka, outlined the pro-active measures put in place to checkmate another flooding this year, noting that the state was fully prepared as it would not be taken unawares by another massive flooding.
He said: “We are saying that those who are directly on flood plains shouldn’t be living there at all. They should move permanently from there. Buildings are not authorised to be constructed there. For their safety, they shouldn’t be there in their interest. “
In a related development, the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, during a recent interactive session, shed light on how far the state had managed the N500 million released to the state from the Federal Government over last year’s flooding.
He said: “We are very careful talking about the N500 million because people will hold us accountable for the handling of that money. We set up a committee headed by Justice Tabai, a retired Supreme Court judge, specifically to manage that N500 million. They (Committee) have put out their initial premium request of N262 million out of the N500 million.
“They are already going round various communities, trying to deal with issues of agriculture and resettlement. So the balance is still there. When they finish and give account of what they had done, we will give them the balance.”
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