Flood: Diri seeks special grants, support for Bayelsa
Mandates a one-week holiday for government employees.
Mr. Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State, has pleaded with President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to provide “special funding” to the state government to help mitigate the effects of the severe flood calamity that has hit the state.
This is because he issued an order mandating a one-week vacation for all state employees (with the exception of those performing critical functions) in light of the serious crisis.
He also pleaded for oil giants and NGOs to help Bayelsa, as well as the Red Cross, embassies, and good-hearted citizens.
On Tuesday morning, during a statewide broadcast on the reoccurring natural disaster, Diri made the appeal, telling people of the state, “economic hardship has set in.”
He advocated for the Bayelsa’s special grants to come from the Stabilization Fund, the Ecological Fund, and the Natural Resources Fund.
Diri, who has been touring flooded villages, stated that the state administration was helpless in the face of the flood’s widespread destruction.
“I wish to thank Mr President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari,” the governor added, referring to the president’s instruction to several government agencies to come to help the state. I want to stress the importance of moving quickly to follow the president’s order.
It’s safe to say that the state’s resources are insufficient to deal with the full scope of the destruction. We immediately appeal to multinational corporations, international donor organizations, the Red Cross, Diplomatic Missions, and individuals of goodwill to help our country.
I’m writing to urge the President to provide the state more funding from the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Stabilization Fund, Ecological Fund, and other related accounts.
“The situation is critical, in my opinion. A million individuals have been uprooted from their homes in over 300 different villages. Sadly, there have been reports of fatalities.
As he put it, the terrible tale of destruction and human suffering was the same in Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe, and Kolokuna/Opokuma Local Government Areas across the state.
The businesses have closed, the houses have been gone, and the farmlands have been damaged,” Diri continued. A humanitarian emergency exists.
The state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital in Okolobiri, and the University of Africa in Toru-Orua are only some of the institutions that have been seriously damaged.
Parts of the strategic East-West Road, the only access to and from the state between Ughelli and Patani in Delta State and Okogbe and Ahoada in Rivers State, have collapsed due to the high volume of flood waters occupying the stretch at the time of this address, cutting off Bayelsa State from the rest of the country.
Food, medicine, and energy are all in low supply, and as a result, the economy has collapsed. It’s a terrible situation, and it’s growing worse.
He claimed that IDP camps had been set up and that relief supplies were being distributed by the State Emergency Management Agency and the State Task Force on Flood Mitigation and Management.
I’m giving everyone in the government a week off, with the exception of those who really must be at work.
I’d like to make an urgent plea to businesses selling necessities like gasoline, food, water, and medicine not to take advantage of the current situation. We need to “keep each other’s stock in order,” he said.
The governor said that he had ordered the distribution of relief supplies to be handled in a non-partisan fashion, reiterating that “we are all, first and foremost, Bayelsans.”
He cautioned criminals that the government would not tolerate them taking advantage of flood victims’ weakened state to conduct crimes.
Diri expressed his sympathies to the people of the state who had suffered losses as a result of the recent natural disaster and promised that his administration would be there for them throughout the recovery process. He also expressed his satisfaction with the residents’ show of unity and cooperation in helping one another out during this difficult time.
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