Several riverside communities in Bayelsa State have been submerged by flood destroying properties worth millions of naira.
The worst hit communities are Asamabiri, Elemebiri, Ekperiware and Adagbabiri situated along the bank of River Niger and it’s tributary, the Forcados River.
The lawmaker representing Sagbama constituency III in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Salo Adikumo, disclosed this in Yenagoa.
He said properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed in the affected communities and solicitied the intervention of the Federal Government through NEMA.
Adikumo also appealed to other relevant federal agencies to, as a matter of urgency, come to the rescue of those affected by the flood as the state government is doing its best within the limit of the available resources.
Also speaking, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, Commissioner for Information and Orientation, hinted that the number of communities affected by the flood is increasing on a daily basis insisting that the state is in dire need of support from the Federal Government.
He reiterated an earlier call made by the deputy governor, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), that the state is yet to receive its own share of the flood intervention fund.
The Deputy Governor had last Wednesday while playing host to a delegation from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) expressed displeasure over the non-payment of its share of the N1.6 billion approved by the Federal Government for states ravaged by flood disaster.
Iworiso-Markson decried the delay in the release of the fund since 2012, saying it would have helped to complement the efforts of the state government to tackle the perennial flood.
While maintaining that Bayelsa has never benefited from any Federal Government fund for flood victims despite been one of the states most hit by devastation, the Commissioner urged Bayelsans to be vigilante and also make use of the available call lines and report incidents of flood in their areas for quick intervention.
