Bayelsa declares one-week flood break for civil servants

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Duoye Diri, has declared a seven-day break for civil servants following the unprecedented flood in the state.

Diri on Tuesday disclosed that nearly a million people in over 300 communities in the state have been internally displaced while some deaths have been reported due to the flood.

“I hereby direct all public servants except those on essential duties to be given time off from work for the next one week,” Diri said during a statewide broadcast.

He noted that some of the communities affected by the flood are Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas.

The governor said the state task force on flood mitigation and management in liaison with the state emergency management agency has established camps for the internally displaced people and is providing relief materials for victims of the flood.

Diri called on President Muhammadu Buhari for special grants from the stabilisation funds, ecological funds and natural resources fund for the state.

According to the governor, critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, have been severely affected.

The governor added that the flood has caused economic hardship as food, medical provisions and energy are now in short supply and appealed to vendors not to exploit the situation amid fears of rising crime.

“Government has also observed that at such moments of distress, some miscreants take advantage of the vulnerable population to commit crime,” Diri said

“Let me make it clear that we will continue to have zero tolerance for crime and criminality. I know that we are all impacted by this situation, either directly or indirectly.”