N’ Delta Tasked On Disaster Management

States in the Niger Delta region of the country have been advised to develop their own emergency response institutions to enable them protect and develop the environment in the region.

The Managing Director of The Initiates Ltd, Dr. Osai Mustapher Rueben who gave the charge in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt said “there was no response arrangement by the Niger Delta states” even as he called for human capital development in that direction.

Dr. Osai whose organisation is involved in waste management said the washing  off the surface of the soil would negatively impact the soil as the travelling water would relocate the much needed nutrients from one location to another.

He said the flooding which makes the environment dynamics enables it transmit diseases on a wide scale and equally moves debris to uninhabited places.

He said this scenario would lead to lack of food as crops are washed up and roof crops would rot due to the accumulation of water.

Dr. Osai who is also a chartered environmentalist said some of the challenges and implications of the flooding include the subjecting of the ecosystem to ecological changes leading to death of various species of animals.

He opined that the flooding was “Micro” in nature and not actually related to climate change per se “as that is a higher disaster as the flood was not just coming from the sea like if happened in Japan and elsewhere”.

According to him, what has happened was minor as the flooding was merely following the flow of the River Niger, explaining that our readiness to manage disasters should be given a human face.

Commenting on the present underground drainage system being used in roads construction in the state, Dr. Osai said the system cannot work effectively if not free from debris.

He said since it appears to be the most modern, it is necessary to guard against those things likely to carry debris into the drainages.

He further called on the government and its agencies to adhere strictly to the zero tolerance for pothole policy and consolidate on the grass planting system to prevent movement of dirt into the drainages.

He also called for the eradication of manual evacuation of silt from gutters and man holes as the system was temporary because such debris easily found their way back into the drainages.

He called for the introduction of vaccum trucks to ensure the movement of evacuated waste and proper disposal.

Dr. Osai advocated for a situation where government woos land owners with a view to properly planning the layout of their land for a fee before such lands were given or sold to land developers in the state.