House Solicits Aid For Disaster Victims

The Cross River House of Assembly has urged the state government to grant prompt approval for the release of relief materials for distribution to disaster victims.

This was part of a nine-point resolution of the assembly when the report of the Joint Committee on Security, Conflict and Disaster Management, Environment and Agriculture was presented to the house.

The House resolved that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), be made relevant and its operational capability strengthened by enacting a workable legislation to make it more responsive in disaster management.

It resolved that meteorological service stations should be established in the 18 local government areas of the state and that such service should provide farmers and the public with weather information to guard against disaster.

The House also stressed the need for the government to carry out sensitisation through the media in English and local languages on the importance and procedure for sustainable management of the environment.

It called for the recruitment of agricultural extension officers to educate farmers on the importance of tree planting, to check windstorm.

It criticised the excavation of sand and dumping of refuse along water ways.

Other resolutions included a call on the Ministry of Environment to recruit and reinforce the Emergency Volunteer Corps through training,

It also called on the Ministry of Works, in collaboration with the Lands and Housing Ministry, to re-appraise the depth and sizes of bridges, culverts and gutters to guard against flooding.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the House Committee on Security, Conflict and Disaster Management, observed that people, particularly rural dwellers, had not been sufficiently educated on environmental best practice.