Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has declared a seven-day break for civil servants following flooding across the state.
The governor, in a statewide broadcast, yesterday morning, said nearly a million people in over 300 communities in the state have been internally displaced while some deaths have been reported.
Diri, however, clarified that, the work-free week, does not cover workers on essential duty as they are expected to still do their jobs.
He said the state was facing a humanitarian crisis with over one million persons displaced across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas while businesses shut, properties lost and farmlands destroyed.
“I hereby direct all public servants except those on essential duties to be given time off from work for the next one week.
“Let me make a special appeal to vendors, particularly of fuel, food, water and pharmaceuticals not to exploit the situation. We must be our brothers’ keepers.
“Government has also observed that at such moments of distress, some miscreants take advantage of the vulnerable population to commit crimes. Let me make it clear that we will continue to have zero tolerance for crime and criminality.”
He said critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, have been severely affected.
Diri added that without exaggeration, the sheer scale of the devastation was too much for the state to handle hence the call for federal assistance.
However, the flood ravaging Bayelsa State has washed up several corpses at Azikoro Government Cemetery in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The same same situation applies to other private cemeteries in the state capital.
The situation has raised health concerns from the offensive odour in the neighbourhoods.
The flood, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of residents, had compelled the electricity company in charge of the state to shut down public power supply.
This was done out of safety concerns to avoid electrocution as most transformers had been submerged.
The Commissioner for Environment who doubles as the Chairman of Bayelsa Flood Committee, Mr. Iselema Gbaranbiri, confirmed that three floating corpses were recovered from the scene.
He said that the corpses were immediately reburied and the environment properly fumigated.
He explained that the ministry got a report that one corpse was washed up but officials dispatched to the scene found three.
“The floating of corpses was actually reported. I got the report of a floating corpse and I directed the Head of Health and Sanitation to get the corpse reburied. Two more corpses were recovered and reburied and the environment was properly fumigated,” Gbaranbiri said.
Meanwhile, residents near the area had appealed to the state government to relocate the cemetery to safeguard public health.
They also noted that the chemical applied to and stench from decomposing corpses pose serious health hazards to residents, calling on the government to provide relief for them and relocate the cemetery after the flood.
One of those who reside in the area, Jeremiah Owoupele, appealed to Governor Douye Diri to relocate the cemetery for health reasons.