The Federal Government has again advised
state governments and Nigerians to prepare for heavy rains, which it
says may lead to flooding this year.
It particularly called on people living
in flood-prone communities to take precautionary measures against flood,
which may result from torrential rainfall as well as opening of the
Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authorities, as it happened in 2012.
This warning was given by the Minister
of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, in a meeting she had with the
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin
Okupe, in her office on Tuesday.
The minister regretted that the
Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam, being constructed by the Federal
Government in Taraba State to reduce the impact of water released from
Cameroon, was still under construction.
Because of this, she said there was a
need for concerted efforts by state governments to mitigate the likely
effect of the large volume of water that might be released from the
Cameroonian dam at the peak of the raining season.
While stressing that Nigeria and
Cameroon had reached a substantial level of understanding on how to
prevent recurrence of the devastation caused to Nigerian communities
last year, the minister urged state government to complement this
initiative by clearing drainages and evacuating people from flood plains
in their states.
She said, “The Federal Government will
want state governments to evacuate people from the flood-prone areas in
their states in order to minimise the effect of flooding in their
states.”
The minister also explained that work
was at various advanced stages on 23 dam projects, which she said the
President Goodluck Jonathan administration embarked upon to provide safe
water for different communities, irrigation for farmers and generate
additional megawatts for the power sector in the country.
Ochekpe said six of the dams located in
Imo, Ondo, Katsina, Abia, and the Federal Capital Territory are ready
for inauguration, while the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam will be ready
before the next raining season.
Speaking earlier, Okupe said the
Jonathan administration had made greater impact on all sectors of the
nation’s socio-economic landscape than any previous administration in
two years.
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