By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Bayelsa State Government has again called on its federal counterpart, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other well-meaning organizations to support the state in addressing the twin problems of flooding and coastal erosion.
Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Deputy Governor, made the call at an enlarged stakeholders meeting with the Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control, local government chairmen and other critical stakeholders in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor said the state government is passionately appealing for support in view of the devastation being suffered by several coastal communities and high capital intensiveness of embarking on sustainable shoreline projects across the state.
Describing Bayelsa as a state with the longest coastline and the headquarters of flooding in the country, Senator Ewhrudjakpo lamented that communities particularly along the Atlantic Ocean were being washed away by coastal erosion every year.
While appreciating the NDDC for some of its projects in the state and the Niger Delta region, he stressed the need for the interventionist agency to collaborate with the state government in the execution of more impactful projects.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Government has directed its Directorate on Flood and Erosion Control to expedite action on opening up more major drainage canals and dredging of sands at specified locations for temporary camps, even as the 2025 flood season gets underway.
It also directed the directorate to make assessment visits to communities including Akenfa-Epie, Tombia and other areas it has designated “flood flashpoints” as part of measures to mitigate the impact of flooding across the state.
Emphasizing the urgency for opening up all blocked drainages and canals in the state capital and environs, the Deputy Governor told the Directorate to immediately commence work on sand-filling the flood relief camps at Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area and Obirigbene Community in Ekeremor LGA.
He equally directed the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to carry out immediate demolition and reconstruction of a structurally defective drainage culvert at Arietalin in the Yenagoa metropolis to tackle flooding in the area.
On the issue of temporary flooding in the Igbogene axis of the state capital resulting from ongoing sand filling of the new stadium, Senator Ewhrudjakpo equally directed the flood directorate and the commissioner for works and infrastructure, and his sports counterpart to visit the area and report back to government for necessary remediation action.
The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, received briefings from the Director-General of the Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control, Surveyor Wilson Omuso as well as the chairmen of Yenagoa, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and Ekeremor LGAs.
