Niger Govt. to set up standing Committee on Inland Water Ways.
By Abdulkadir Yahaya.
Niger State Government is to set up a Standing Committee on Inland Water Ways within the State that would ensure the water transport regulations are diligently followed.
Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago disclosed this when he received the Zonal Director, North Central, of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Bashir Idris Garba and his team on a courtesy visit at the Government House Minna.
He acknowledged that boat mishaps, floods and banditry are the forms of disaster being managed in the State and that most of the boat mishaps were caused by overloading.
The Farmer Governor explained that the Standing Committee would collaborate with an existing department in charge of boat mishaps under the Ministry of Transportation for effective regulations of the waterways transportation.
He said the State has lots of life jackets and they have been deployed to riverine areas for use.
On the issue of banditry, the Farmer Governor said tremendous efforts have been made in addressing the menace and the efforts have been yielding positive results in recent times.
He said with the collaboration of NEMA,
HYPPADEC and other relevant stakeholders, and the state government have been able to relocate most of the people living in the flood-prone areas to safer areas.
While commending NEMA for the good job in the country so far, the Farmer Governor assured that he will continue to work with NEMA to protect the river banks and the people using water transportation in the State.
Earlier,the Zonal Director, North Central, Bashir Idris Garga, said his visit was to familiarize himself with the Minna Operations office and to update the Governor on the developments that had taken place in the Agency.
He stated that there is a deliberate strategy to unbundle the agency so that it will be free from bureaucracy, adding that its North Central office has been upgraded to a directorate to allow for speedy response to emergencies and disasters.
The Zonal Director who noted that Niger state is faced with the challenges of flooding, banditry and boat mishaps said that a workshop will be organised on managing mishaps while calling for support by all.
