FG to tackle erosion in Anambra

Sylvanus Eze, Awka - 22.05.2008

THE Minister of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, Hajiya Halima Tayo-Alao, has said that in the face of incessant erosion and other forms of landslide ravaging Anambra State, the Federal Government had designed measures aimed at checking the menace in order to save the state from further degradation.

Addressing newsmen in Awka on Wednesday after an inspection visit to a gully erosion site, she lamented that about 65 per cent of the landscape of the state was being threatened by gully erosion and assured that the Federal Government would not allow the people of the state and their homes to be submerged.

Erosion sites inspected by the minister were those in Nanka, Onitsha, Nkpor, Ozubulu and Awka, where she warned road contractors to ensure proper channelisation of flood.

She regretted that land degradation was an unfortunate development resulting from climate changes and human activities and cautioned people against indiscriminate soil excavation so as not to jeopardize the life of the people.

The minister commended the efforts of Governor Peter Obi at proffering a permanent solution to environmental problems in the state, noting that his efforts had attracted the Federal Government’s attention.