2015 Flood Prediction: RSG Assures Prompt Control

The Rivers State
Government has urged the people of the state not to panic over predictions that, the state is among the 12 states in the country that will experience flood disaster this year.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Special Duties, Mrs Briggs-Iti Ibaniba, who said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in her office in Port Harcourt, said that the State Government had taken some measures before the prediction to check any occurrence of flood disaster in the state.
The Permanent secretary listed some of the measures already taken by the government, to include; the clearing of drains across Port Harcourt and environs, clearing of the Ntawoba creek and construction of flood ways to divert flood water.
She  said  that the Ministry is working with the Rivers State Waste Management Agency to ensure that wastes are properly disposed in the state  as well as the demolition of structures on drainages and flood plains.
The Permanent Secretary  said that, the government is planning the construction of proective walls on coastal local government areas such as; Andoni, Bonny, Opobo/Nkoro, Asari Toru, Akuku-Toru, Degema and Okrika.
Mrs Ibaniba also said that a committee comprising of officials of the state government, all the coastal local government chairmen and civil society organizations will be set up to work out modalities towards mitigating the likely impacts, the impending disaster may have on the people.
According to her, there is no course for alarm as far as the state government is concerned.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NHSA) had in its 2015 flood outlook listed Rivers State as among the twelve states in the country that will experience flooding thus year.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has commenced the construction of two hostels in Ahoada East for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in the 2012 flood disasters.
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Sepcial Duties, Mrs Briggs-Iti Ibaniba, who disclosed this in an interview with The Tide in her office in Port Harcourt, said that the hostels will cater for victims of the flood disaster from Ahoada East and Ahoada West, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Abua/Ndual and Akuku Toru local government areas.
The permanent secretary who said that the government is not envisaging large-scale flooding this time around  however said that government will establish lamps in all the coastal local government areas of the state.
She advised the people of the state to be sanitary conscious all the time, while also watching out for any increase in water level in their areas.