by crossriverwatch admin
The NDDC has presented a cheque of N6.062 million to the Cross River Government to procure relief materials for flood victims in the state.
Mr Dominic Edem, a representative of the state on the NDDC Board, presented the cheque to Mr Fabian Okpa, the Special Adviser to Gov. Liyel Imoke on Special Duties, in Calabar on Wednesday.
Edem said that the NDDC delegation was in the state to express their concern and sympathy over the unfortunate development.
He said that the commission deemed it necessary to contribute its quota towards ameliorating the plight of the victims in nine of the 18 local government areas of the state.
According to him, the fund was meant to assist the state government to provide relief materials to cushion the sufferings of the victims.
Edem said that on completion of the procurement of the relief materials, the commission would participate
in the distribution of the items to the victims.
Responding, Okpa commended the commission for its prompt response to the plight of the displaced and flood- afflicted victims.
He said that states within the Niger Delta, blessed with forest and oil resources, and mangrove swamp were worst affected by floods, due to their coastal location.
He commended the state for making Nigeria the toast of the international community and the hub of the nation’s reservoir of peace and tranquility.
Okpa commended the Federal Government for the decision to include the state among flood affected areas qualified for relief materials, adding that the gesture would bring succuor to the victims.
He assured the NDDC that the funds would be used judiciously so as to give hope to the victims.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Chairman of Ikom Local Government Area, Dr Tony Ngban, has described Ikom as the worst-hit by floods in Cross River in the past two years.
Ngban said that more than 10,000 farmers in the area had been displaced by floods, and called for proper enumeration and valuation of property destroyed by the flood in the area.
He noted that cocoa, yams, cassava, and oil palm farms had been submerged since June 2012.
He appealed to the Federal and State Governments to distribute early maturing seedlings to farmers who lost their crops to floods to check likely food shortages, insecurity and poverty in the state and the nation.
The chairman reiterated his earlier appeal to the state and federal governments to clean up the Afi River
that was polluted by floods occasioned by landslides in the Afi mountain ranges as it served as the only source of drinking water for more than 40 villages along its banks.
Ngban also called for the sinking of boreholes and water purifying facilities as an interim measure to meet the needs of the affected communities.