TICKER: We’ve done our best on flooding – we can’t do more, says FG

The Federal Government cannot do more than it is currently doing to ameliorate the sufferings of flood victims in various states of the federation, the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafia has said.

Ms. Mailafia stated this on Wednesday at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, at the State House, Abuja. Though not on its agenda, the Council, Wednesday, discussed the flooding in various states of the country concluding that the Federal Government had done its best in the flood situations.

Ms. Mailafia said the blames on the government were unnecessary as floods were not peculiar to Nigeria.
“With the kind of technology put in place in the United State, they still had flooding there. In China and even our neighbour Niger, an arid land, they are experiencing flooding,” she said.
Despite the complaint by victims, rescue agencies, Red Cross officials, and civil society groups, that there was poor and insufficient assistance to flood victims in various states, Ms. Mailafia said the Government could not do better than it has done.

“For anyone to think that government has not done or there was something that we needed to do that we have not done, is a title bite awesome because there is a limit to which you can fight nature,” she said.

The Minister said that what the government had done in a “couple of months is consistently to educate people, calling the attention of government and individuals of the need to move away from flood plains.”
Other ministers also spoke on resolutions reached at the meeting, as it concerns their ministries.
FG to open by-pass on Abuja-Lokoja road

The Federal Government has also directed the opening of a bye-pass along the Lokoja-Abuja road, on Thursday. The bye-pass will enable movement along the road which has been shut to traffic since Sunday.
The Minister of Works, Mike Onolemenme, said this at the end of the FEC meeting which was presided over by the Vice President, Namadi Sambo.

Mr. Onolemenme said the bye-pass which has been created around the flooded area would be opened for motorists by Thursday.
He also said government has engaged construction giants in the country, to create the bye-pass as a temporary measure to ease the suffering of commuters on the road.

“What we have been doing since yesterday morning is that around the flooded area, we identified a bye-pass which we have created,” Mr. Onolemenme said adding that the road has reached 60 per cent completion.
“We have done a diversion at those drainages, and vehicles will be able to now drive normally through this bye-pass without having recourse to canoes on our roads as a result of the flooding that happened.

“For us, that was a national priority because we needed to open that particular transport corridor so that movement between the Southern States and the Northern States will not be impaired,” the minister added.

– Premium Times

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