Akwa Ibom Govt. needs N50b to tackle flood, says commissioner

The Commissioner for Environment in Akwa Ibom, Mr Enobong Uwah, has said that the state government needs N50 billion to effectively tackle the problem of flood in the state.

Uwah, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Uyo on Sunday, said that the state government had requested for fund from the Federal Government to check the menace.

'We are already making moves to access the ecological fund. Meanwhile, the state government has started intervening, especially as it concerns damage caused by last year's flooding in the state.

'If you go to Brooks Street, you will appreciate the work the state government is doing to check gully erosion threatening to eat up the area,' he said.

Uwah said that the damage caused by flooding in the state was on the increase, attributing it to the flouting of environmental laws by residents, who built houses on waterways.

The commissioner said that the state government would demolish such buildings to check flooding in the state.

He also call on the people to stop dumping refuse in culverts constructed to ease the flow of water, adding that such habit would only compound the problem. (NAN