Delta State Government, Sunday, said it was taking steps to combat the Igwogwo gully erosion menace at Amachai-Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the State.
Commissioner for Works (Rural and Riverine Roads), Mr Charles Aniagwu stated this during an inspection tour of the ravaging erosion site on Sunday.
Aniagwu said he was at the site on the directive of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori.
He said that Oborevwori is a listening leader who understands the plight of his people assuring that Government would do everything possible to combat the gully erosion ravaging the area.
“Let me inform you that His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has instructed that we visit this particular area, Amachai quarters in Okpanam, with a view to have first hand information on this particular gully erosion that has caused some levels of devastation in this environment.
“We are here with our Engineers from the Ministry of Works to assess it and see how we can come in to address what’s happening here.
“You have seen the level of devastation and if it’s not checked, a number of houses will go down the drain.
You do know that there have been a lot of human activities around here in terms of developments; individual building their houses. The more they build these houses, the more they construct some form of earth roads to their houses. “Which means a number of rain water that would have settled in the bushes will now find their way to this earth roads and as they progress, it gathers more momentum and leads to a whole lot of errosive forces which has now in turn led to the gully we are seeing here.
“We are going back to brief His Excellency of what we are seeing here so that our administration will take steps to address the problem because it is very ugly and obviously if not addressed, it will cause further devastation.
“So we must appreciate His Excellency who has given this directive immediately he got this information,” he said.
He appealed to residents of the area to be patient adding that Government would stand by them to solve the challenge facing them.
“We want to plead with our brothers and sisters who live in this environment to know that government is going to stand by them.
“Our Governor is somebody who believes that the people need to get value, which is why he has asked us to come here.
“He is also quite convinced that Deltans have confidence in him and his ability to meet them where they are challenged and this is one of those challenges.
“So they should be rest assured that government will do something to mitigate the effect of this very flood that has caused a whole lot of devastation in this particular environment.
“The Engineers that accompanied me here are already taking cognisance of the depth of the destruction, the extent of damage, all will be the part of the brief that we will be taking back to His Excellency with a view to seeing how we can mitigate the effect and address what is happening here,” Aniagwu stated.
Chairman Amachai Landlords Association, Chukwunenye Okonkwo thanked Governor Oborevwori for the swift response and appealed to the State Government to give urgent attention to the erosion challenge, stressing that many buildings were already at risk of collapse.
The Commissioner who was in company of the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon also inspected gully erosion sites around Vanguard Road and behind NNPC Mega station along Lagos-Asaba dual carriage.
