FG Begins Aquatic Weeds Clearing In 25 States

The Integrated Management of Invasive Aquatic Weeds Project of  Federal Ministry of Environment says that it has started the removal of invasive aquatic weeds in 25 states.

The Coordinator of the Project, Mr Simon Ighodaro, said this while speaking with the journalists in Abuja.

He said that the project, which involved the removal of aquatic weeds from the country’s waters, had begun in Lagos, Ogun , Kwara, Ondo, Imo, Abia, Bayelsa and Benue states, among others.

Ighodaro said that the states were chosen because of the peculiar challenge they were facing in dealing with the menace of invasive aquatic weeds.

He said that the project would remove aquatic weeds from the water surfaces and convert them into organic manure that would be used to boost agricultural production in the country.

The coordinator said that about 50 communities in different states had been empowered with tools like cutlasses and other equipment, while they were also educated on how to control aquatic weeds.

Ighodaro also said that the five-year project would come to an end in December this year, adding that the empowered communities were, nonetheless, expected to carry on with the weeds’ clearing after the end of the project.

He described aquatic weeds as water pollutants which reduced the level of the oxygen in the water, thereby causing the death of fish, among other harmful effects.

He said that the weeds also hindered the free flow of water.

In a related development, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Environment, Chief  Robert Enogha says the ministry is working to procure water weeds harvesters to make the state’s waterways and creeks navigable.

Enogha told newsmen in Yenagoa recently that the clearing of the waterways and creeks would make them navigable all through and promote the economic growth of the state as it would boost agricultural activities and tourism.

He said the ministry had the exclusive responsibility to maintain the waterways and ensure the clearing of water hyacinths and other weeds in the rivers and creeks within the state to ease marine transportation and other voyages.

The commissioner said that the government was in the process of procuring a water weed harvester to remove the menace from the water front, including the Ogbia waterways, when the equipment arrived.

According to Enogha, the menace of water hyacinths hinders navigation on the rivers and creeks in the state, especially during the flood season in August, September and October, when the tide is usually high.

He also said that in some communities in the interior of Southern-Ijaw, Ekeremor and Ogbia Local Government Areas, the river remained the major source of potable water for the people.

Enogha expressed concern that even the river had been polluted through the activities of multi-national