Expert advises Rivers State govt on how to address flooding

A Port Harcourt-based environmental expert, Dr Precious Ede, has advised the Rivers State government to key into the current global programmes that are aimed at addressing climate change.

Ede, an associate professor at the Institute of Geo-Science and Space Technology in Rivers State University, gave the advice while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Tuesday.

He said the state government should take advantage of the programmes to curb perennial flooding now witnessed in the state which he attributed the climate change.

“This is also happening in some other places around the world; so the state government should tackle the menace of climate change as it affects the state,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that some parts of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, have in the recent years, been witnessing flooding at the peak of rainy season.

Ede also advised residents of the state to refrain from dumping refuse in canals and indiscriminate erection of structures on waterways and other unauthorised places.

He said such acts were responsible for the blocking of water channels and the resultant flood.

Meanwhile, Mr Lawrence Igwe, Director (Flooding), Rivers State Ministry of Environment, has said that the state government is already opening up blocked water channels across the state.

Igwe said government, through the ministry and allied agencies, were already checking human activities that were inimical to the environment.

According to him, the state government has been proactive in its response to the menace of flood in the state.

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