BY John Odhe, YENAGOA
A group under the aegis of Environmental Conservation, Agriculture and Rural Development (ECARD) has commended the Bayelsa state governor, Senator, Douye Diri over the establishment of Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control.
ECARD says the establishment is a clear demonstration of how environmentally friendly the governor is.
The group made the assertion when it paid a courtesy and advocacy call on the management of the directorate in Yenagoa, the State capital.
Speaking through its Chief Operating Officer, Comrade Morris Alagoa, ECARD recommended a state legislation to legalized the establishment of the flood and erosion control agency in order to make its funding and operations more effective.
“We sincerely thank the governor for establishing this body. We have been clamouring for such a body especially considering Bayelsa as the most deltaic State.
“We want to be in the fore for other states suffering flood to come and learn from us.
“The only thing I still have to appeal is that the body should be legislated upon. It should be a creation of law.
“Because Senator Douye Diri, the governor, is environmentally conscious, we have been relating with him right from when he was in the House of Representatives and as he became governor, he has shown that indeed he is environmentally friendly,” Alagoa stated.
Alagoa, who doubles as the Technical Adviser to the governor on Environment 1, commended the directorate for opening up water channels in the State capital to mitigate effects of flood, urging communities to desist from demanding money from the body during operations in their areas.
A member of ECARD, Henry Adike, pledged the group’s continued collaboration with the directorate on issues relating to flood and erosion.
Adike also advised the body to partner with the ministry of works and infrastructure in its operations.
Receiving the delegation, the Director General of the Bayelsa directorate of flood and erosion control, Chief Omuso Wilson Omuso thanked the leadership of ECARD for the partnership.
The DG noted that the governor, Diri, deemed it necessary to constitute the body after the devastating experience of the 2022 flood.
He adduced that the governor might have drawn experience from a similar body established by the late former governor of old Rivers State, Chief Melford Okilo to tackle flooding.
Omuso disclosed that the directorate, using technical aid, had discovered 54 water channels within the Yenagoa metropolis, adding that desilting operation was ongoing to allow free flow of water through all the channels ahead of the peak of the expected flood season.
He noted that the governor, from the day of its establishment, made the directorate an independent body, detached from ministries, stressing that Diri had not deviated from that stance.
To mitigate effects of flooding, Omuso revealed that the State government through the deractorate had provided some higher grounds in Bisini, Yenagoa local government and Ekeremor local government respectively as safe haven for flood victims.
