Lagos warns on Ocean Surge

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Government has warned residents of coastal areas in the state to be prepared for another deadly ocean surge this year.

Last year, ocean surge at Kuramo Beach swept away 15 people and sacked the entire coastal community, with properties worth millions of naira lost.

Addressing a news conference on plans by the state to prepare for this year’s rainfall to mitigate the impact of flood, Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello alerted that another ocean surge should be expected this year, saying that the government was working hard to mitigate the impact.

Bello accused the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plights of the people living in coastal areas, saying that despite the promises President Goodluck Jonathan made in 2011 when Alpha Beach was eroded, the president had done nothing since then.

“Nothing has happened since the president visited in 2011. Jonathan promised heaven and earth when he came, but nothing has been done since that time. We are not taking this issue of ocean surge lightly. The state government has already awarded contract to protect the shoreline and work has started.

“I pity people living around the ocean and it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect them. The erosion at the beaches is critical and has nothing to do with the level of rainfall,” he added.

Bello also accused the Federal Government of scuttling the Apapa regeneration programme, which made the tankers to come back to the place again, saying that unless the Federal Government intervened, there was no way the state government could regenerate the area alone.

According to him, the environmental nuisance persists because the Federal Government failed in its promise to support the state government, adding that most of the challenges confronting the area could be tackled collectively.              Bello stated that until other states of the federation suffered acute cases of flooding, that was when the federal government decided to give the state a paltry N400 million, stressing that “this is wrong. It appears the federal government is not ready to do anything for Lagos State due to a number of promises it made at different times without redemption.

“The Federal Government did not respond to the crisis of coastal encroachment in Kuramo specifically. Rather, the Federal Government responded while giving other states that suffered massive flooding some money. This is wrong because beach encroachment is different from flooding and erosion.

Bello further said that Apapa is gradually relapsing into its old state because the Federal Government after we worked together to clear the area, promised to cooperate with us. There are huge problems in Apapa.

“We need to deal with the issue of oil tank farms. We need to address ports’ poor management, which is responsible for traffic gridlocks. The Federal Government promised to contribute money. But till date, nothing has been done.

“We have not received a dime from the centre. But they sent representatives last week to meet with the state government and have agreed to make some contributions. In some parts, the federal government promised to contribute 70 percent. In other parts, they promised to contribute 35 percent. Once they are ready, we will cooperate,” he explained.

The commissioner said the government had put machinery in motion to mitigate the impact of flood in the Lagos metropolis this year.