Touched by the devastation his people and Deltans in general suffered during the 2022 flood, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Olorogun Barrister<span;> Kenneth Gbagi, said the annual flooding experienced by Deltans would soon be a thing of the past.
Chief Gbagi said he was already working with engineers both local and foreign towards embarking on a holistic solutions to address the situation once and for all as he prepares to take over government.
Speaking on Wednesday at a joint town hall meeting with the people of Okwagbe Waterside and Okwagbe Inland on the solution to the flood water and environmental control held at Okwagbe town hall in Ughelli south, the incoming governor said aside the fact that the issue of flooding was not peculiar to the state as it was a global phenomenon, urgent steps would be taken by his government to tackle the challenge in a holistic manner and protect the state from future reccurrence.
The former minister of state for education, who empathized with Okwagbe communities whom he said suffered most during the period, noted that it was painful to see houses flooded with water, roads taken over by floods, while many homesteads literally became pools.
“The flood water that occured recently, made me so much to be afraid. Some of you saw me when I drove round Okwagbe, Ughievwen kingdom and everywhere, I was scared.
“If truly, there is a government in Delta state, as supportive as Okwagbe is to the state government, flood water should not be a problem that should make us to relocate from our houses.
“The issue of the flood, Okwagbe was worse hit. The trouble that Okwagbe suffered because of the flood water, no other community suffered it.
“So, I have taken a decision, Okwagbe people should be ready to release their areas because I am going to cut such drainages in such a way that such suffering in Delta state will never happen again”.
He said as governor of the state, if there was any incidence of flooding under his administration, particularly Okwagbe Waterside and Okwagbe Inland, his words should be taken with a pinch of salt.
He equally told the people that he suffered same fate as they did, as he was sacked by the flood for a period of two months.
Assuring Deltans that flooding would be a thing of the past, he said: “I will resolve that problem immediately as governor of the state.
“We will use government and taxpayers monies to develop the state. Flood water won’t devastate us again,” he reiterated.
