By Ebi Perekeme
Member representing Burutu Federal Constituency, Hon. Julius G. Pondi, MHR, has cried out against the deplorable condition in his constituency.
Pondi said in a statement he personally signed and made available to GbaramatuVoice, Oct. 12, that his constituency and its environs have been submerged by flooding, which has caused millions of Naira property lost.
He said that Burutu Township was most affected, adding that both the state and federal governments should intervene to stop the malady.
According to him, “This year’s flooding in Burutu Federal Constituency assumed a wider dimension in scope, breath, depth and devastation. In spite of this, I have been in speedy contacts with some of the areas and residents who have narrated the very horrendous scope, with pleadings that the federal and state authorities should make haste to intervene with relief materials in the interim.
“In the past four weeks, Burutu Federal Constituency and adjoining local government areas have been under massive flooding following days of unending rains and pounding ocean wave surges that have led to increase in water level.
“In their wake, several towns and villages have succumbed to these natural discomfort making several houses uninhabitable and other valuables devastated.
“Thousands of people including the aged, the sick and children have been displaced from their homes, and schools made to shut down for weeks.
“Some of the most affected are Burutu Township, and several towns and villages in the local government area, while neighboring local government are also victims.”
Pondi said that the flooding has become a recurring decimal despite several measures he had taken to put a stop to the quagmire.
“The flooding has in recent times become an annual irritation, and in spite of my outcries for help both at plenary sessions of the house of representatives and privately with stakeholders to seek the aid of federal authorities, nothing is usually done for my people to ameliorate the devastation, even as I often note that similar flooding in other parts of the country are often promptly and swiftly attended to with public messages from state actors expressing their empathy for victims and the assurances of quick and sweeping supplies of aids.
“The same should be done for my people in the spirit of fairness, equity and public good.
“It is also imperative that our state government should make haste to send aid materials to victims of the floods, and urgently interface with the federal government in order to continually infuse a sense of belonging in the people of Burutu Federal Constituency and the communities affected in adjoining local governments.
“It is my fervent expectation that the National Emergency Management Agency would this time hearken to the cries and anguish of the people in the affected areas by coming to their aid quickly.
“The federal ministries of Works and Housing, Niger Delta Affairs as well as that of the Environment partnering with the Delta State government should hasten to proffer lasting and enduring solutions to the frequent menace of flooding in the riverine communities and the coastal fringes of Delta State.”
He listed some of the devastation and communities where such were recorded. He said, “Ayakoromo community and its secondary school, the Ayakoromo Grammar School are not spared.
“Bolou Ndoro Community, Tuomo, Torugbene, Ojobo, Tamigbe, Obotebe, Gbekobu, Akparemo gbene, Ogbeingbene, Ofenibeinghan (Okrika) and many others are now under flood waters.
“Also very worrisome now is the fact that thousands of residents (my constituents) taking refuge in alternative places waiting for the intervention of the federal and state authorities.”
Hon. Julius G. Pondi, MHR therefore pleaded with his constituents to bear the brunt of the natural catastrophe while he mounts pressure in making sure that normalcy is restored.
He said, “I sincerely sympathize with you my dear constituents for this calamitous times we find ourselves. It’s most unfortunate that once again we are under attack from natural discomfort.
“In trying everything possible to ensuring that these times are only temporary, it’s my prayers and believe that things are back to normal as soon as possible.”
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