Flood: Residents urged to avoid poor environmental practices

By Stanley Onyekwere

In order to prevent flood disaster, the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has charged residents to avoid environmental practices that could lead to flooding in the FCT, especially during the rainy season.

The Agency appealed to residents to desist from acts such as indiscriminate waste disposal into water channels and rivers, building on water ways and river banks as well as diverting water channels, to prevent flood disaster.

According to the FEMA’s Director General, Alh Abass ldriss, who made this assertion recently, to prevent flood disasters in the FCT rainy season, is important for residents to join hands and complement the efforts of the FCT Administration, as major stake holders in Emergency prevention and mitigation.

ldriss said FEMA noted that peparedness and sensitization remains the key toward reducing disaster to the barest minimum in the FCT.

He therefore advised residents to always clear their drainages, ensure proper disposal of refuse, avoid building on flood plains and river banks, driving or walking on running waters.

He explains: “Everyone is a stakeholder in this disaster prevention efforts and FEMA has created a high level  awareness amongst FCT residents, through several media platforms to established the consciousness of disaster prevention and mitigation rather than management.

“This yields better result, because community participation by residents in disaster management will bring about greater results.

“Residents will notice lots of clearing around the city since the last rainy season, removal of illegal structures, desilting of drainages, expansion of narrow drainages removal of waste from dump sites as well as removal of any obstructed thing that could block water from flowing well.

“This shows that the FCT Administration is living no stones unturned to ensure no live is lost to flooding this rainy season but residents also have a role to play.

The FEMA boss adds: “If you follow the trend of our response, you will discover that some of the flood issues of 2019 did not reoccur in the same locations, except new ones that came up in different locations. Such locations like Area one and Lokogoma flood issues were taken care of after identifying the obstacles.

“We also mounted reflective flood warning sign posts at the flash points to sensitive and warn residents from driving or walking into a running water.

“Our monitoring personnel at all locations are surveiling the city for monitoring and reporting situations in and around their areas and report feedbacks from the residents”.