Chairman of Bonny Local Government Area, Dame Anengi Claude-Wilcox says her administration is taking strategic steps to curb the menace of flooding with a view to making Bonny Island habitable for residence and business.

Outlining her ambitious plans on Thursday, July 27, 2023 in an interview with Journalists in Port Harcourt, she said bold moves like demolishing structures built on water canals were part of the actions being taken to ensure the flooding debacle is assuaged.

“At the local government level, we have set up a committee that is desilting drainages to avoid any blockage.”

“There are some buildings that are built on drainages we are already demolishing. Some are being marked, they need bigger equipment so that we can demolish them.”

“We are doing proper sanitation now. We are opening all the canals, and then we are also making some kind of immediate relief for those affected by the flood.”

She noted that though Bonny LGA was not among the areas being affected by flooding as predicted by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet), due to the island being below sea level, it was now grappling with coastal erosion.

“However, Bonny Local Government is not among those local governments that have seasonal flood issues. Ours is that, like you all know that Bonny is below sea level. Also what we experience is high tide and low tide.”

“The river is claiming back some of the land; so, most of our communities are being submerged under this water, that’s what we are experiencing.”

“We have some communities like Kuruama, Peterside, which is Ayama; and some other communities along the other area of Bonny Local Government Area like Greens Iwoama, Burukiri area, those ones are beginning to be submerged under the sea.”

“So, we experience high tide and low tide; these are the issues we have in the local government.”

“But at that level, like I said earlier on, we are trying to mitigate to ensure that it doesn’t take over; like in the island we’re trying to clear the drainages and all natural water channels.”

With the current moves by the current administration, there are hopes that the menace of flooding affecting different areas of the Island would soon be a thing of the past.

Areas such as King Jaja Street, New Jerusalem Road, Macaulay Street, Ukpo Avenue, Cable Road, Willbros Pipeline Road, Akiama Road and Abalamabie Road remain critical areas in need of urgent attention as residents grapple with their homes being submerged every time the rains pour down heavily.