Ekiti State Government has said it will not relent in ensuring the safety of lives through constant dredging and channelisation of waterways, rivers, streams and canals across the state with a view to banishing flooding.
Governor Kayode Fayemi made the pledge in Ado Ekiti while inaugurating four heavy-duty equipment procured by the state government under the World Bank-assisted Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project to give relief to residents as part of activities for his third year anniversary.
Fayemi, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, during the inauguration and test-driving of the two amphibious excavators and two articulated low bed trucks, said they were “to facilitate dredging and channelisation of waterways to save residents and neighbourhoods from flood disasters and for effective erosion control.”
He said that the gesture was borne out of the interest to motivate community participation towards the reduction of natural and man-made disasters and other environmental risks in the state.
The Commissioner for Environment, Mrs Iyabo Fakunle-Okiemen, said, “Constant dredging and channelisation of rivers, streams and canals across the length and breadth of the state would make the people go to bed with their eyes closed and banish the fear of flooding.”
Fakunle-Okhiemen, who lauded Fayemi for facilitating Ekiti inclusion in NEWMAP project, said that the state had benefited immensely from various erosion and flood control projects going on in different locations in the state.
According to her, the development will bring respite to the people in the grassroots from ecological problems affecting them and their economic and social activities.