From Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has appealed to the state government to provide relief materials to victims of flood in the state, to help reduce their plight.
This is as a result of the recent flooding which wrecked havoc in many communities across the 13 local government areas of state.
The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, made the appeal while reading the House resolution after the Majority Leader of the House, Tanko Tunga raised the issue under matters of public importance, during the House proceedings in Lafia on Monday.
He said: “The devastating effects of flood are huge across the state as many lives, animals, buildings, farm lands among other properties have been destroyed.
“Many communities across the state affected by the flood are homeless, they are no longer living in their homes. It is in view of this that I want to call on the state government to provide relief materials to the flood victims without delay.
“I also want to call on the state government to relocate communities affected by the flooding to safer places for their comfortability and to improve on their standard of living.”
The speaker further called on the state government to provide more funds to the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) to enable the agency discharge its duties effectively.
“I also want to call on both the National and State emergency agencies, Nasarawa Urban Development Board (NUDB) National Orientation Agency (NOA) among other agencies saddled with the responsibilities of tackling flooding and development plans to be more proactive in their activities so that the society will be better for everyone of us,” he added.
Contributing, John Osewu (APC Doma South), Daniel Ogazi (APC Kokona East) Danladi Jatau (APC Kokona West) Mohammed Okpoku (APC Udege/Loko) and David Maiyaki (APC Karu/Gitata) all called on the state government to address the plight of the flood victims across the state.
They called for proper funding of NASEMA, and urged the NUDB to ensure proper development control in the state to avoid future occurrence of the flooding.
Earlier, Majority Leader of the House, Tunga, while raising the issue said, “flooding has inflicted injuries on the lives of many people across the state. I am calling on the state government to do everything possible to alleviate the suffering of flood victims across the state.”