By Billy Graham Abel, yola
Senator Binos Binos Dauda Yaroe (PDP – Adamawa South) said he would introduce a bill calling for the dredging of the Benue River through the states of Adamawa, Taraba, Benue and Kogi following the relentless floods that are encroaching communities in southern Adamawa State permanently.
Yaroe said his people are tired of asking for relief materials and seeing their agricultural produce consumed by heavy floods every year.
He said that in tabling the bill he would call for the Benue River to be dredged at Adamawa, the construction of buffet dams to conserve excess water volumes that could trigger dry season irrigation and agriculture and eventually empower the inhabitants. He said he would also introduce a motion that would require relevant agencies like NEMA to immediately assess flood damage to communities in southern Adamawa and parts of central Adamawa affected by flooding.
Yaroe made the remarks during an on-site assessment of local communities affected by heavy flooding in Demsa, Numan, shelleng and Guyuk local governments of Adamawa State.
During a visit to these communities, Binos laments the helpless state of residents as homes have been razed, farmland submerged and economic activities wiped out by the encroaching flood.
“This behavior of distributing relief materials every year is unsustainable. We must seek meaningful, productive and economically reasonable solutions to these floods,” Yaroe said.
“I’m working on a bill that would be brought home within the week that aims to provide a lasting solution to the environmental disaster affecting our people. The bill will be in collaboration with all relevant state senators and we will request the immediate disbursement of environmental funds for the dredging of the Benue River and all its adjoining tributaries in the states of Adamawa, Taraba, Kogi and Benue.
“The bill will also call for the creation of buffer dams in strategic locations in these states that would act as buffers to conserve and divert excess water that our people can use for irrigated agriculture and agriculture. dry season.
“And the bill will also call for the immediate intervention of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assess the immediate situation of our affected communities and provide relief materials to mitigate the adverse effects of the flood, as most of the inhabitants of lost their lives. farms, homes and livelihoods.
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“We will work to purchase agricultural tools such as water pumping machines to help our local communities engage in dry season farming and get them back on their feet as soon as possible.”
While welcoming the Senator, the Supreme Ruler of Mbula Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Bwaltam Bently Biyapo said that he and his people are grateful to have an insightful and visionary representative who has already captured everything about our people.
HRM Bwaltam said, “At this time there are seventeen (17) communities that have been completely flooded and people have moved to safer ground.
“Two communities we couldn’t enter because there’s no way to cross them. We have two camps for internally displaced people, one in Loh and the other in Bilaci where our people have been camped.
“The situation is critical for women and children who sleep outside in classrooms and earn a living on what they can because their crops and farmland have been washed away by the floods.
“All relevant government bodies and agencies should quickly come to our aid and support our people who really need help.”
Demsa Local Government Area Chairman Wanoke Wesley Fwa said, “Communities in Demsa have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the volume of water that has overwhelmed their lives and livelihoods.
“Members of my community are in a critical situation and urgently need help.
“Women and children have been laid off, exposed to mosquitoes, starvation, air and water borne diseases, right now they have no food and the only food they hoped for was submerged and dried in their presence.
“It’s obviously beyond what they could handle, relevant institutions and bodies should please come to our aid quickly.
“I would like to thank Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and our Senator, Binos Dauda Yaroe, who have been so sensitive and attentive to the plight of our people.”
