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From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
The Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) has said that host communities is set to benefit from the economic values of flood despite its devastating effects .
The Managing Director, Abubakàr Sadiq Yelwa made this disclosure at the closing ceremony of a training workshop organized for the media unit of the commission, held in Abuja, yesterday.
He explained that soil yield more produce after been washed away by flood, adding the commission would increase its support for farmers in host communities to tackle food scarcity.
He lamented that HYPPADEC communities are highly affected by the flood menace more, which is mainly caused by inadequate dam system in the country, ‘building of more dams would have help but there are none. It is high time for the needful to be done by creating more dams to channel these water that is responsible for constant lost of lives and property.
“This misfortune will be turned into fortune by using the flooding as a means of providing water for irrigation. It will help the communities to be able to produce more than they are used to. So we are going to give the farmers the necessary support they required to produce more agricultural products, year round.
” We are also going to collaborate with state governments to see how we can mitigate this flooding problem. Of course, that is why in Kogi state, a lot of resources has been spent by the government to provide a pavement between the river and the surrounding community.
He added that the commission have done a lot to alleviate the sufferings of people affected by flood in the host communication, which would not have been much if they had adhered to warnings.
” We have done much based on nature of the of those affected people, give them drugs free of charge, and also advise them on the way to move forward. And this has prompted us to facilitate our activity of providing safe haven for communities that are prone to this danger by building a kind of resettlement homes for some of them.
Speaking on the training, he said it is meant to update the capacity of staff .”Therefore, it is not that they don’t have the capacity to perform before, but the training is to give them the opportunity to assess themselves and to know where they need improvement for the providers of training to provide that improvement that they have observed.
