Monday, 04 March 2013
• Residents, firm trade blame
A MAJOR landslide at the weekend hit Okoloba community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Council Area of Bayelsa State, destroying eight houses.
Many indigenes of the community, including the paramount ruler, Chief Orumobiri Woyergikuro, have blamed the incident on the alleged refusal by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to compel commencement of work on the shore protection project, the contract of which was said to have been awarded to the Dredging Atlantic Company in 2008. But the company has debunked the allegation, claiming that work on the project had begun and that some members of the community were making execution of the job difficult.
It was learnt that the slide hit the community at about 6 a.m. on Saturday while the residents were still in bed. Some of those affected by the incident said it was the early morning farm work that saved many residents from being buried alive by the slide.
The traditional ruler, Woyegikuro, said the failure of the NDDC and the Dredging Atlantic is costing the area untold hardship and loss of revenue worth millions of naira. “For five years, the company has refused to commence work on the shore protection project that would have helped the community,” he said.
Woyegikuro noted that though the delay in the project caused the slide, the method proposed for carrying out the job, as being used in the neighbouring Sabageria, will not be effective in tackling the situation in Okoloba. “If it will work here, all they need to do is close the swamp before commencement of shore protection work,” he said.
When contacted on the development, a senior official of the Dredging Atlantic Company in its Port Harcourt office, Mr. Alex Ogieva, explained that “the legal hurdles placed before the company by some members of the community” over the demand for N50 million compensation for dredged sand in the area stopped work in 2009.
“Some people who claimed to be land owners took the company to court. They claimed that the sand used is not free, and wanted the sum of over N50 million. We decided to go with them to court, while we moved all equipment to Sabageria end of the job. We are on site in the Sabageria end and the shoreline work is going on as scheduled.”
A MAJOR landslide at the weekend hit Okoloba community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Council Area of Bayelsa State, destroying eight houses.
Many indigenes of the community, including the paramount ruler, Chief Orumobiri Woyergikuro, have blamed the incident on the alleged refusal by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to compel commencement of work on the shore protection project, the contract of which was said to have been awarded to the Dredging Atlantic Company in 2008. But the company has debunked the allegation, claiming that work on the project had begun and that some members of the community were making execution of the job difficult.
It was learnt that the slide hit the community at about 6 a.m. on Saturday while the residents were still in bed. Some of those affected by the incident said it was the early morning farm work that saved many residents from being buried alive by the slide.
The traditional ruler, Woyegikuro, said the failure of the NDDC and the Dredging Atlantic is costing the area untold hardship and loss of revenue worth millions of naira. “For five years, the company has refused to commence work on the shore protection project that would have helped the community,” he said.
Woyegikuro noted that though the delay in the project caused the slide, the method proposed for carrying out the job, as being used in the neighbouring Sabageria, will not be effective in tackling the situation in Okoloba. “If it will work here, all they need to do is close the swamp before commencement of shore protection work,” he said.
When contacted on the development, a senior official of the Dredging Atlantic Company in its Port Harcourt office, Mr. Alex Ogieva, explained that “the legal hurdles placed before the company by some members of the community” over the demand for N50 million compensation for dredged sand in the area stopped work in 2009.
“Some people who claimed to be land owners took the company to court. They claimed that the sand used is not free, and wanted the sum of over N50 million. We decided to go with them to court, while we moved all equipment to Sabageria end of the job. We are on site in the Sabageria end and the shoreline work is going on as scheduled.”
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