Flood menace:  market chairman accuses land developers of building on waterways

..as flood submerges Anambra market

By Phil Okose, Onitsha

The President of Ogidi International Building Materials market, Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra State, Chief Jude Nwankwo, Monday, accused land developers around the market of building structures on the waterways which in turn resulted in floods repeatedly submerging the market.

He made the accusation while reacting to the submerging of the market for the third time weekend, even as he urged Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, and Commissioner for Works and Housing, to immediately probe the allocation of land to private individuals around the market.

Chief Nwankwo who took journalists on a tour of the market to assess the extent of damage done by the ravaging flood,  described the incident as unfortunate and noted that it could have been averted if some private land developers had not built structures and shanties on the drainage outlet constructed by the market under his watch.

He further called on Governor Soludo to carry out a reclamation exercise on the gully erosion site behind the market that ultimately serves as the source of the flood during a heavy downpour.

“It is a man-made problem by some members of the market who built on drainages, it is the major factor of this disaster, and I am pleading to the Governor to embark on a demolition exercise of shanties and illegal structures in and around the market as has been carried out in other flood-prone areas in the state.

“All attempts made to persuade the developers of these properties and land, have been met with stiff resistance, so I can only appeal to the Government to intervene, otherwise the situation may degenerate into a bigger problem as it is. But I believe that Governor Soludo’s administration is friendly to commence and traders in Anambra and am confident that measures will be taken in due course.

“So while I urge for calm and sympathize with the traders who are members of the market, I am appealing for Government intervention, especially in the area of reclamation of land behind the market being washed away by erosion resulting into a gully which serves as a reservoir for the flood,” he pleaded.

Counting the traders’ losses, the President hinted that cars, wares, and shops, among others worth millions of naira, were destroyed by the devastating flood.

Reacting, a trader in the market who deals in plumbing materials, Mr. Emeka Ossai, stated that if nothing was done to avert future occurrences, the situation may send every trader in the market packing, adding that the latest incident was the worst for the three times they had experienced the incident.

In her own contribution, Mrs. Amaka Chetalu, also a trader, said that it was the third time they have experienced the ugly incident and urged the State Government to come to their rescue.

“This is the third time it is happening, we pay our taxes/levies to the previous administrations and they could not be able to check mate the annual disaster. My shop, other shops, cars, wares, among others worth millions of naira, have been destroyed and washed away by the wicked flood,”  she cried