Stakeholders seek intervention funds for states affected by flood

The Federal Government has been urged to provide intervention funds to states being affected by flood from the ecological fund to help improve and construct necessary infrastructure and provide support for victims.

Speaking at an emergency stakeholders’ meeting on 2015 flood in Abuja, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Fatima Nana Mede stated that the objectives of the meeting are to prepare for the forecast 2015 flood management strategies, create awareness on the consequences of the release of water from Lagdo Dam, discuss modalities and proffer permanent solutions to avert future occurrence and have a coordinated approach towards mitigating flood incidence.

Mede said that the challenges confronting man and by extension the government as a result of global warming is the increased incident of flooding caused by torrential rainfall and rise in sea level.

She noted that the impacts of global climate change are becoming more pronounced while environmental governance and risk management have become issues requiring critical attention.

According to her, the huge economic and human losses experienced every year from flood nationwide constitute a great problem in environmental sustainability and this is typified by the 2012 flood incidence in some parts of the country, which had far reaching negative impacts on individuals, communities and the nation as a whole, resulting in creation of internally displaced camps.

Mede added, “We are very much aware of the forecast of floods this year by NIMET and the gradual release of water from the Lagdo Dam by Cameroun Authority. Already, water from the dam is being released and there had been reports of flooding in Benue, Kaduna and Bauchi.

The effects of these two can be devastating if adequate arrangements are not put in place to mitigate the disaster. The meeting, which had in attendance about 100 participants drawn from the Federal and state Ministries of Environment, military and paramilitary agencies and stakeholders on flood management observed that the flood expected will affect the Benue River Basin comprising of all states from Adamawa to the Niger Delta as a result of release of excess water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroun, that flood other major cities across the country occurs as a result of poor solid waste management and that the Internally Displaced Persons(IDP) camps being constructed in states affected by 2012 flood have not been completed to accommodate people that may likely be affected in 2015 among others.