From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Residents in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, have lambasted the state governor, Douye Diri over negligence and abandonment of the town and concentrated the state resources in the development of his village that has not produced a drop of crude oil.

Diri in the last four years has turned his little village to a construction yard with establishment of different higher institutions in the same village while Yenagoa the state capital has been neglected.

During a  tour round Yenagoa metropolis by members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel (FCC) of the NUJ bayelsa state council, to ascertain the level of preparedness by the state government as the rainy season set’s in discover that all the drainages and canals were completely blocked.

Residents living especially along Epie Creek in the state metropolis, lambasted governor Diri over neglect of the creek that was supposed to serve as collection of waters during the rainy season but has been completely blocked with debris.

They say until the government takes a proactive step to dredge the creek, residents will continue to live a life of smiling and suffering.

In the course of the tour, members of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel discovered that drainages around the state capital are not only filled with plastic wastes but also serve as refuse dumps.

The inability of successive governments to pay proper attention to the development of the sprawling state capital had spurred the immediate past state governor, Henry Seriake Dickson to describe it as “a Forest Capital.”

During a tour of the correspondents, it was discovered that most drainages that were supposed to ease the flow of water at the height of flood are blocked by thick grasses and wastes. While the monthly sanitation exercises embarked by the state government never helped matters as such days are more of mere exercise in futility as sanitation agents have never enforced clean ups but only extorted money from traders even as people are forced to only stay indoors till end of the exercise.

Some concerned  residents along the Igbogene area of the Epie creek who expressed worries over government’s nonchalant  attitude that has caused serious hardship to residents  noted that  the only  solution to  tame  perennial flooding around Epie Creek  is to  dredge the river that has virtually turned to ordinary ground.

One of the resident, Pastor Tariebi Blessed Kalakai, who spoke on the issue noted that, with all the billions of naira that is coming into the state” government should clear up the creek and dig it deep to a certain level of metres depth that can contains much volume of waters around the state capital thereby reducing the impact of flooding.

“Dredging the Epie Creek will go a long way to check the yearly flooding that has affected many houses around the creek. But most times governments go on crash programmes when flood comes which has never helped in bringing solution to the problems”.

“The real solution to this creek is to first dredge it and pile it from Igbogene to Government House , that is all, the government should partner with Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and do it in phases, people will be happy.”

“Government is continuity, if this government can’t complete it; another will continue with it, the major problem of flooding in Bayelsa State is the Epie Creek which is connecting all the communities. If the government can dredge it above flood level, it will help.”

According to him, the Netherlands and other cities in the world which have the same terrain as the Bayelsa State enjoy such dredging. Saying residents have been suffering the neglect by the government not to take care of the situation despite the billions that comes into the state every month.

Speaking further said, government inability to take proactive steps will continue to affect not only residents along the communities but even relatives of top government officials.

“We decided that let’s be suffering and smiling because we are all affected, even their relatives. The continued neglect is as a result of lack of government will to do the right thing when a huge amount of monthly allocations that runs into billions of naira is accrued to the state “.

” Posterity will continue to remember Chief Melford  Okilo, a one time governor of Old Rivers state who made some inroads in the area of flood control during his tenure as governor of the then Rivers state which included the present day Bayelsa state.”

Mrs Kate Wilson, also a resident in the flood infested community, appealed that the creek should be dredged and a standard bridge should be constructed to cross the creek to the communities.

“There should be a standard bridge to cross the creek when the place is dredged, because we have no bridge crossing this place” she noted.

Another concerned resident, David Patrick Igidi, also accused the government of causing the sufferings of residents around the Epie Canal. Saying most flood periods witnessed the presence of snakes, armed robbers and even corpse flow from a mortuary around the area.

His words, “The neglect of the Epie Creek and Yenagoa as a capital is caused by the government. No official bridge connecting communities by the canal. Government should open up this creek. Every day, during the flooding period we pay lots of money to get to our houses , snakes are all around our houses during flood, armed robbers also have fields day here as Corpse flows from a nearby  mortuary to our houses”.

But the Director General ,Bayelsa State Flood and Erosion Control Agency , Chief Omuso Wilson , who responded to questions from Correspondents’ on the sorry state of drainages and gutters in the state capital ,blamed it on  lack of funds as a major factor militating against  the agency’s activities.

He says the agency is waiting for the second tenure administration of governor Douye Diri to swing into action for it to also commence work on the blocked drainages.

“Funds have not been released. Once funds are released we will go into action .Now there is no SSG to apply for funds. Once the government is in place, funds will be made available for us to work.

“Since we came on board, May last year, we have carried out some skeletal works, even though we still have much work to do as the rainy season has already set in.

The director general, said by May this year, the agency will be one year in office, and decried that they only do things at the peak of the flood which he said was not too good.

“Some of us have travelled out and seen how places with similar terrain tackle the issue of flooding; we can do the same here in order to have a very beautiful and conducive environment.”