Buhari Commissions 3.35km Flood Control Project In Makurdi

PRESIDENT Mohammedu Buhari yesterday commissioned the Idye Flood Control Project in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

The President, who was represented by the Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, asked the communities covered by the project to protect it by resisting the temptation of dumping refuse in the drainage.

His words: “I therefore call on everyone in the community to see the project as theirs, jealously guard it and ensure that the project is adequately maintained. “The community should also prevent the misuse of the project such as filling the drainage channel with debris and refuse that could lead to another flooding or erosion.”

The 3.35-kilometre project was awarded by the Federal Government following the 2017 flood, which claimed some lives and destroyed properties worth millions of naira in Makurdi.

The minister also intimated that the project was one of the 17 ecological intervention projects approved by President Buhari for the fourth quarter of 2017.

He stated that the Federal Executive Council awarded the project on May 4, 2018, with a completion period of 48 weeks.

According to Akume, the Phase I of the project covered a distance of 3.35 kilometres commencing from Police Zone IV headquarters and terminating at the railway after the BIPC Estate, Nyiman, Makurdi.

“It is serving well in accommodating the volume of water in the Idye basin. The completion of this project underscores the Federal Government’s concerted efforts and sincerity of purpose in tackling problems of its citizens and making life more meaningful for the people of our great nation.