Bayelsa Bleeds Over Perennial Flooding, Begs FG To Release Funds
…Legislator appeals to FG, NEMA for assistance
The Bayelsa State government on Sunday raised the alarm over increase in the number of coastal communities submerged by flooding.
The government said the number of communities affected by the flood had been increasing on a daily basis, insisting that the state was in dire need of support from the Federal Government.
While confirming the development, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, told journalists in Yenagoa, that the Federal Government was yet to fulfil its responsibilities.
He reiterated an earlier call made by the Bayelsa State Deputy governor, Rear Admiral Gborobiogha John Jonah (Rtd), that the state had yet to get its own share of the flood intervention fund.
Iworiso-Markson decried the delay in the release of the fund since 2012, saying it would have helped to complement the efforts of the state government to tackle the perennial flood.
The Deputy Governor had last Wednesday while playing host to a delegation from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) expressed displeasure over the non-payment of its share of the N1.6 billion approved by the Federal Government for states ravaged by flood disaster
The Commissioner maintained that Bayelsa has never benefited from any Federal Government fund for flood victims despite being one of the states most hit by devastation.
He urged Bayelsans to be vigilante and also make use of the available call lines and report incidents of flood in their areas for quick intervention.
Meanwhile the lawmaker representing Sagbama constituency 3 in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Salo Adikumo said the worst hit communities in his area are Asamabiri, Elemebiri, Ekperiware and Adagbabiri.
The legislator said so far properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed in the affected communities and solicitied for the intervention of the federal government through NEMA.
Adikumo also appealed to other relevant Federal agencies to with haste come to the rescue of those affected by the flood as the State Government is doing its best within the limit that they could.
