House of Assembly wants Rivers included in Ecological Fund

The Rivers House of Assembly on Thursday passed a motion urging the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to include Rivers among flood affected states.

The motion, sponsored by Mr Granville Tekenari, representing Asari-Toru Constituency 1 and who is the Chairman House Committee on Transport, was supported by all 15 members present on the floor of the House

In a resolution read by the Speaker of the House, Mr Ikuinyi Ibani, Rivers was included in the flood forecast issued by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) even before be rainy season.

According to the resolution, the state should be entitled to benefit from the N1.6 billion Ecological Fund disbursed in April 2017 by the Federal Government.

The resolution acknowledged that since the state was also affected by the predicted flood disaster, social justice should be accorded it by making the state a beneficiary of the ecological fund.

The resolution also directed that the House should invite the South-South Zonal Manager of NEMA to explain why the state did not benefit from the Ecological Fund even as it also suffered from flood disaster.

In his opinion, the Speaker said that the omission of Rivers in the fund disbursement was not an oversight.

“I do not want to believe that this omission is an oversight, especially when the South-South zonal office of NEMA is domiciled in Port Harcourt where most parts experienced flooding,’’ he said.

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Ibani said that as legislators and concerned citizens of the state, it was pertinent for members to protect the interests of the people.

Mr Innocent Barikor, representing Khana Constituency, thanked the Gov. Nyesom Wike for his quick intervention and relief materials for the affected victims.

In another development, Mrs Victoria Nyche, representing Port Harcourt Constituency 1, also thanked Wike for his intervention for the flood victims.

She said that just as the state was excluded from the ecological fund, her constituency had yet to benefit from the state.

Nyche urged the government to bring succour to the people of Rukporkwu, EliozuEliozu and Eneka areas of the state.