The Governor of Rivers State on Thursday inaugurated a special task force to regulate the distribution of relief materials to the victims of the flood disaster that submerged entire communities and destroyed homes and farms in four local government areas of the state.
The task force is headed by the permanent secretary in charge of Special Unit services in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Dr George Nwaeke.
The governor also approved the sum of N1Billion to fund emergency relief measures to support flood victims in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas.
Wike said the money should be made to reach vulnerable families, particularly in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs, which are the most impacted areas in the state to enable them cope with the devastating flood water which has inundated homes, farmlands and forced residents of affected communities to relocate to safer places.
Other members of the task force are: Mrs. Inime I. Aguma, who will serve as the Secretary, the Chairman of Ahoada West Local Government, Hon. Hope Ikiriko; Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government, Hon. Vincent Job; Hon. Chukwuemeka Onowu and the Director of Administration in the Ministry of Special Duties.
But the effort of the state government has been seen as coming rather late given that predictions about the floods were given by the Nigerian Metereological Agency (NIMET) very early in the year, giving enough room for preparations to be made ahead of the disaster.
“How would this late response by the state government help the victims?” queried Christian Oko, who said the victims would have been saved a lot of suffering and losses if preparations were made ahead of time.
“What can the N1 billion do in this situation, when what the victims have lost cannot be quantified?” asked Comfort Obone, who said she hailed from an impacted community in Ahoada West local government area.
Meanwhile, the the National Emergency Management Agency has blamed the late response to support vulnerable communities on the lack of proactiveness by the state and local governments.
The South-South Coordinator of the agency, Mr. Godwin Tepikor, told National Point that his team has already visited impacted areas in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni and Ahoada West local government areas and sites in Bayelsa and Cross River States.
He said the states and local governments, which should be the first responders to emergency situations have failed to take leadership and feed NEMA with the requisite information information on how to intervene.
He said, “It is not for fun that that has been provided in the Act setting up NEMA. There we have vertical coordination arrangement according to the National Disaster Management Programme. So if the state’s structures are not there, the vertical coordination will be dysfunctional. The Federal Government cannot do everything.”
Tepikor said he had expected that the states and local governments would have begun to set up structures since February when NIMET predicted that there will be heavy flooding this year. “It appears nothing seems to have happened and the flood is here with us,” he said.
The NEMA coordinator said it was the states and local governments that should have set up IDP camps and temporary settlements where the people could be attended to.
He said NEMA has already positioned its supplies to assist vulnerable communities in the 36 states that will be impacted by the flooding. “We expect collaboration with the states, the local governments and we’ll meaning citizens to come and assist the people. Disaster management is everybody’s responsibility,” he said.
But the Director of Administration in the Rivers State Ministry if Special Duties, Mrs. Fortune Akpila, disputed Tepikor’s claims. She told National Point that the state had pointsmen working with NEMA and supplying them with necessary information.
On what the state was doing to assist vulnerable communities, Mrs. Akpila said the state was on top of the situation and declined to give further details, saying that further information would be aired on the radio.
