Nigeria Decides:  20 Bayelsa communities raise alarm over  movement of electoral materials

From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

 Twenty riverine communities located in Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State, have cried out over the blockage of the waterways by hyacinth, lamenting that it could affect the movement of electoral materials during the forthcoming general elections.

The communities, while stating that the water hyacinth blockade has made travelling along the waterways a nightmare, expressed the fears that electoral materials might not arrive on time on Election Day as a result of the difficulty in navigating the waterways.

 The communities badly affected include the headquarters of ward eleven in Ekeremor Local Government Area, Egbemo-Angalabiri,  Koromotoru, Azagbene, Agbibiama, Ngoloba, Tutuama, Derifamoama, Uguwa, Kolotoru, Club Creek, Tunu, and Opukushi, all in Ekeremor Local Government Area.

In Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, the communities affected include Azagbene, Ukpapupu 1&2, Gbaruan, Afitubu, and Euobou communities.

Addressing newsmen in Yenagoa, the Paramount Ruler of Koromotoru Community, HRH Chief Mike Alfred appealed to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to intervene.

According to him the intervention of the government and NDDC is very imperative because since the communities are not accessible by roads; the only means of transportation is by boat.

Chief Alfred who was accompanied by a community leader from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Chief Nelson Kpokpowei, said: “These communities that are directly affected, we are not motorable, the only way in and out is by boat ordinarily the place is a local place at the extreme.

“Even when there is no water hyacinth each time there is an election and materials are distributed by INEC  we don’t see it until around 12 noon or 1pm. And now that these snags are there blocking the waterways totally, market women, fishermen, travellers are finding it very difficult and are stranded day and night.

“The communities have no funds to clear the water ways. The only agency that can help us is Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, because it is in their Act to clear water ways.  And so if they don’t do it, we may likely not participate in the elections at the stipulated time and INEC cannot do otherwise. So we are calling on the NDDC to intervene otherwise our own elections will be in trouble.”