The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged the Rivers State Government to declare an environmental emergency in the Orashi region comprising Abua/Odual, Ahoada-West, Ahoada-East and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas currently ravaged by flooding.
This was contained in a statement released by the party through its State Publicity Secretary of the party, Darlington Nwauju at the weekend in Port Harcourt.
The party said that the government should act as first-line responders to a state-level natural emergency such as is being currently witnessed in the Orashi region.
Nwauju condemned what it described as the “unempathetic posture of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as acclaimed representatives of the people, the House should have visited impacted sites to gain first-hand knowledge of the level of emergency inorder to recommend the most appropriate measures be in deployed by the affected local government councils and the state government.
“That brings us to beam our searchlight on the Ecological Fund introduced through the Federation Account Act of 1981 and promulgated as Decree 36 of 1984 and 106 of 1992, also known as the Allocation of Federation Account Modification Order of 2002 solely for the purpose of tackling multifarious ecological challenges in various communities across the country.
“Given the magnitude of the disaster that has sacked communities in the Orashi region of Rivers State, we owe Rivers people the obligation of demanding from our State House of Assembly at this critical point in time, a probe into the usage of the monthly ecological funds’ accruals to Rivers State, which statutorily comes to the local government councils and the state government simultaneously through Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC),” the party added
Nwauju went on: “Rivers people deserve to know how the 0.72% for state and 0.6% for LGA of derivation funds set aside monthly for ecology and disaster management is being utilized.
“The APC is also aware that the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) had written the 36 state Governors on the appropriate action to take in view of the gloomy forecasts of the rains this year. What were the contingency measures or structures put in place to manage this already predicted disaster?
“How much in the past 7yrs has the state spent on disaster management in the face of billions of naira received from the Federation Account in the name of Ecological funds?
“The APC in Rivers State, therefore, calls on the state government and the affected local government councils to as a matter of urgency, declare an environmental emergency in the affected areas and publish short and medium-term plans to handle this natural disaster, including a very clear timeline for proper resettlement and reintegration of all those displaced, together with meaningful economic support strategy for families and communities,” he stated.
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