- •Says no excuse for recurrence
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday read the riot act to heads of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) whose functions are relevant to flood prevention and control.
The heads of agencies are to ensure that necessary actions are taken to prevent a recurrence of the flood which affected many parts of the country last year. At a meeting with ministers and officials of agencies at the Presidential Villa to review ongoing flood containment measures, Jonathan warned that he would not tolerate any excuse for a repeat of the disaster.
"We have no excuse to be caught unprepared again after the floods of last year," the President said, adding that he expected all relevant MDAs to be proactive in speedily implementing required flood prevention and management measures.
Jonathan also directed the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Flood Prevention and Control, including the Ministers of Environment, National Planning, Water Resources, Finance, Health, Transport and Aviation to establish effective liaison with governors of all flood-prone states and ensure that there is proper coordination between the MDAs and the states in the implementation of flood control measures.
The President stressed the need for greater public enlightenment and advocacy to ensure compliance with measures that have been evolved to prevent a recurrence of devastating floods across the country.
A technical team established by the Inter-Ministerial Committee presented a National Climate and Flood Control Framework to the President which detailed short term, mid-term and long term measures recommended to tackle the problem.
National Mirror