Emergency Update: Senate seeks urgent action against floods

[Mirror]

The Senate has mandated its joint Committee on Water Resources, Environment, Marine Transport and Special Duties to find out the level of preparedness of the Federal Government to avert flooding this year. The directive followed a motion on "emergency preparedness for 2013 flood and rainfall prediction" sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom North East), and 80 others.

Stakeholders are however, of the view that averting the impending floods is beyond the scope of the Federal Government alone as the states and local governments also have crucial roles to play in emergency management.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Act of 1999 mandates the states to set up their emergency management agencies while local governments are to have functional local emergency management committees.

However, less than two thirds of the 36 states and Abuja have set up functional SEMAs, while only about 50 or so out of 779 local governments in the country have any semblance of LEMCs. Again, many state governors were yet to gainfully utilize the grants given to them last year by President Goodluck Jonathan to manage the flooding.

Also, the duties of town planning and refuse disposal are those of states and local governments. Enang noted that excessive rainfall in 2012 in the country coupled with release of water from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon led to devastating flooding in most part of the country.

He said the water released from the dam flowed through River Benue and merged at the confluence of River Benue and Niger at Lokoja leading to massive flooding, death, submerging of houses and farmlands in Lokoja, Kogi State.

The lawmaker said this led to massive flooding, death, submerging of homes and farmlands in Lokoja and its environs. He noted that the flooding also affected Delta and Bayelsa States estuary where there are many tributaries, most of the tributaries silted and filled with sand such that the large volume of water from River Benue and Niger could not find sufficient dept to channel the volume of water to the Atlantic Ocean.

National Mirror