…… says nearly 1 million people in 300 communities internally displaced
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has declared a seven-day break for civil servants following flooding across the state.
The governor in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday morning, said nearly a million people in over 300 communities in the state have been internally displaced while some deaths have been reported
Governor Diri however clarified that, the work-free week, does not cover workers on essential duty as they are expected to still do their jobs.
He said the state was facing a humanitarian crisis with over one million persons displaced across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas while businesses shut, properties lost and farmlands destroyed.
“I hereby direct all public servants except those on essential duties to be given time off from work for the next one week,”
“Let me make a special appeal to vendors, particularly of fuel, food, water and pharmaceuticals not to exploit the situation. We must be our brothers’ keepers.
“Government has also observed that at such moments of distress, some miscreants take advantage of the vulnerable population to commit crimes. Let me make it clear that we will continue to have zero tolerance for crime and criminality.”
He said critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, have been severely affected.
Diri added that without exaggeration, the sheer scale of the devastation was too much for the state to handle hence the call for federal assistance.