FG plans 550 housing units for flood victims

[Punch]

Kwara State and 21 other states that were ravaged by flood in 2012 are to benefit from the Federal Government's 550 housing units for flood victims, the Chairman, Committee on Flood, Relief  and Rehabilitation, Alhaji Mohammed Dabarako, has said.

Dabarako, at a media conference on the proactive efforts of the  Kwara State Government to mitigate flooding in 2013 in Ilorin on Monday, said some of the states to benefit from the FG housing units include Kogi, Delta, Bayelsa, Niger and other states where the impact of the 2012 flooding was devastating.

He stated that the state government had appealed to hydro-stations to regulate the release of water from the dams to avoid flooding. He suggested that the water could be released gradually when the dam was not filled up.

He said the committee had identified such areas as Patigi, Moro, Kaiama, Baruteen and Ilorin as some of the flood-prone areas.

The Special Adviser, Emergency and Relief Services to the state Governor,  Musa Abdullahi, said the government had cleared virgin land, arranged for tents and mobile toilets and provided   about N5m anti-flood epidemic drugs as a proactive measure against the impending flood and the associated health demands.

He added that the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah  Ahmed, had made a provision of N10m for the construction of the tents and N7m for the mobile toilets.

He urged people living in flood-prone areas to relocate to safe areas and be more safety conscious.

Meanwhile, Kogi State  Deputy Governor and Chairman Flood Management Committee, Yomi Awoniyi,  on Monday said the Kogi State Government would deliver on its promise in ensuring that the 2013 flood did not have severe impact on the residents.



The Punch