‘Abia Needs N8bn To Fight Erosion’

The Permanent Secretary,
Abia State Ministry of Environment, Mr. Bernard Ogbonna, says N8 billion would be needed to solve the problem of erosion in three communities in Umunneochi Local Government Area. The communities are Umuobasi Mbala, Umuaku Isuochi and Umudim Ngodo Isuochi.
Ogbonna said this when he accompanied Mr Ikedi Ezekwesili, the member representing Umunneochi State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly on tour of the areas.
He said that the devastation was beyond the capacity of the state government due to the paucity of funds.
“We are sending a distress call to the Federal Government to rescue our people from this dangerous predicament so that the affected communities will not be wiped out.
“This is a national disaster that requires the intervention of the Federal Government because it is beyond our capacity. “The difficulty there is that no amount of engineering intervention will make you reclaim all that have been lost,” Ogbonna said.
In his comments, Ezekwesili said: “We have never witnessed such dangerous devastation before and this is more worrisome in the sense that these gullies developed in less than one year.”
The legislator appealed to the Federal Government to come to the rescue of his people and save them from further hardship.
“This is certainly beyond the state government and I appeal to the state Ministry of Environment to prepare a robust report that will enable the Federal Government to intervene through the Ecological Fund. “In the meantime, I will urge residents of the area to do the little they can to ensure that the situation did not worsen while we wait for the Federal Government to assist us,” Ezekwesili said.