Jonathan to visit flooded areas in Delta state on Friday

President Goodluck Jonathan will on Friday visit Delta State to assess the impact of flood, which sacked many communities, killed more than 15 persons and rendered thousands of people homeless.






Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan stated this at the Government House, Asaba, during a meeting with political office holders in the state on Wednesday night.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the president’s visit to the state is part of his proposed tour of states ravaged by flood in the country.

Uduaghan said that the president would use an aircraft to fly over the affected areas in Ijaw land and Isoko land “because they are all under water right now.”

He said that the president would also inspect camps where persons displaced by the flood were being quartered in Warri, Oleh and Asaba, adding that the president would proceed to Anambra from Asaba.

The governor said he would set up a committee to manage the funds being expected from the Federal Government for the management of the problem.

He said that he would look beyond persons in government for indigenes of the state who would constitute members of the committee.

“I don’t want to touch that money. As much as possible, I want to avoid using that money while the displaced persons are in camp.

“We will use it as part of funds we will need to rehabilitate the victims after they would have left the camps. They would need so many things, including money to return to their farms and fishing and other trades,” he stated.

He also announced that a political leader in the state, Chief Edwin Clark, had offered two of his properties in Warri to be used as camps for people displaced by flood in the area.

The properties, he said, were his residence at Swamp Road in the Government Reservation Area and the former State School of Nursing, close to Igbudu Market, along Warri-Sapele Road.

He said that persons displaced by the flood in Ayakoromo community in Burutu Local Government Area, had chosen Chief Clark’s Swamp road property as their preferred camp.

Uduaghan said that all persons affected by the flood in Burutu and Bomadi areas would be moved to camps in Warri.

He, therefore, directed the state government’s committee on the flood disaster to ensure that toilets were provided in all the camps.

The governor said, “Mobile toilets must be evacuated two times a day.”

He charged the Ministry of Water Resources Development to ensure that water was made available in all the camps.


Punch