The people of Oversea neighbourhood in Nasarawa local government area of Nasarawa state who had been displaced by last year’s river flood will soon smile as work to repair the damaged Nasarawa dam and control the flood has started in earnest.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by Alhaji Dogara Jibril Dakaci when he called a stakeholders’ meeting involving the affected families on the need to cooperate with staff of the company handling the project.
In his speech, Dakaci advised the affected families to cooperate with the site workers because nothing could stop the work except God.
He said compensation to affected families was not part of the ongoing work, adding that the protection of life and property of Nasarawa people was of greater priority to the Emir of Nasarawa.
“For now, there is no compensation to the flood victims. Victims who are likely going to be compensated are those ongoing repair work will have touched their houses,” he said.
He asked the victims to thank the Emir of Nasarawa, HRH Alh Ibrahim Usman Jibril, who worked round the clock to attract the project to Nasarawa, and advised individuals agitating for compensation to desist because the security of the whole Nasarawa from flood is more important than any individual or group interest.
“No individual or group can halt the work. You must cooperate with the workers on site. There is no compensation for now. After the completion of work, the Emir may talk to the governor for compensation. You must understand that if nothing is done to control the flood now, by September of this year, the river will overflow its bank again with much more vigour.
“The dam repair is a multi-billion naira work. Even one machine transported from Port Harcourt to the site cost a fortune. It can work even in Atlantic Ocean,” Dakaci said, thus dousing the people’s fear that the work may stop when the rain sets in.
Dakaci asked the people to rather go to Abuja to show their gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for prompt response instead of demanding for compensation.
The project engineer, Engr Isa Elayo, said the project was being handled by Tombim Nigeria Ltd under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
Families living on the fringes of Nasarawa river, especially Oversea neighbourhood, had been displaced by a devastating flood in September last year.
The Nasarawa river usually overflows its bank in the rainy season, peaking in September.
