A former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dakuku Peterside, has urged Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike to reactivate the drainage master plan to curb flooding in the state.
Peterside, in a statement on Wednesday, said the people of the state had suffered untold hardship as a result of the flooding.
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He said: “Former Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s administration had put in place a drainage master plan for the city of Port Harcourt and was already being executed before he left office in 2015, but was abandoned by Governor Wike for political reasons”.
“Our people are traumatized; a lot of persons are displaced, we have lost several goods and properties estimated at over N3bn, social and economic life has been disrupted because the state government slept off, our people are suffering.
“The governor awards projects from his office without going through the due process and the very important Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which has unfortunately led to pain and agony by the people.
“It is even more shocking that the state government is yet to respond, even if half-heartedly to the cries of the people but has chosen to blame everybody other than itself. A responsive government should by now be engaging and looking for ways out of the crisis.
“Port Harcourt has never had it this bad and it can only mean that the state’s relevant ministries, departments and agencies are either incompetent in carrying out their duties or have been starved of necessary funds to function optimally.”
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