Jigawa dredges river to avert flood

Governor Umar Namadi has said the Jigawa State government has dredged a river as part of measures to prevent flooding.

 He said this on Tuesday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The governor said the state government had been implementing the recommendations of a technical committee of experts set up to tackle the perennial flooding.

On preparations being made to check the impact of flooding in his state, he said: “The flooding in Jigawa State is really a serious issue and we are doing many things.  We have set up a technical committee of experts and they are looking at it.  In fact, they have submitted a report and part of the report we have started implementing.  We have bought two excavators and also Hadejia bought two excavators. 

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 “As at today, we have been able to dredge a river about 36 km and we have removed the typha grass.  Part of the recommendations of the committee is that we should do some embankment in the flood prone areas.  For now, we have done more than 85km of embankment with 2.5m height and 4m thickness.  The people are happy because something is being done to salvage the situation.”

On the palliatives being worked out by the National Economic Council (NEC) after the removal of fuel subsidy, Namadi said: “This issue is being discussed and the report will come at the next meeting.  So, I don’t want to pre-empt the report now.”

On security, the governor pledged to continue to work with stakeholders to sustain the peaceful environment in Jigawa State.

 On his meeting with the vice president, he said the two of them discussed some issues of vital importance that would help to improve the economy of the state and solicited support from the VP, who is the chairman of NEC.