Monday, 3 October 2011

Erosion threatens Bayelsa community

Yenagoa – Peremabiri community in the Boma clan in the Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State is on the throes of being washed away erosion as a large portion of the community is already submerged.
Only last week two persons, one of them a graduate of the state owned Niger Delta University, identified as Ikioudo Abel and a secondar school leaver, Stanley Dominic reportedly lost their lives when a landslide hit a section of the community waterfront.
Indiegenes of the community who are host to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Diebu Creek oil facility and the multi billion naira moribund Peremabiri Rice Farm have launched fresh appeal to the federal government to save their community from extinction.
submerging Peremabiri community in the Boma Bayelsa State
Several homes are already under water in the community with a large portion of the land lost to the rampaging Nun River as a result of what they blamed on the ongoing dredging work by the oil giant in the area.
The Peremabiri Community Development Committee Chairman, Dickson Peresuote while lamenting the plight of his people said unless urgent remedial steps are taken the ancient settlement could be wiped out as according to him, “where we are standing right now may be inside the river sooner than we can imagine. We have lost so much of our community to the River Nun. Even yesterday as some youths were playing football in the field when they chased the ball to the water front, the ground on which they stood collapsed into the river. And, if you watch you can see with me that the river has advanced too close to the concrete road in the community.”
He blamed SPDC for the woes of the community saying “If we take a tape and measure, I am sure the space between the River and the concrete road is now less than three meters in that section of the town. Everyone in the community is worried about this threatening ecological issue.
When we were young, this community was very far from the football field. That is why community leaders are not happy with the way Shell Petroleum Development Company [SPDC] has continued to carry out dredging activities within our environment.

Source

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