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A team of property evaluators are to be engaged immediately to assess and analyse the impact of recent rainstorm that destroyed many houses in Biseni community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.
A member of the National Assembly representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma federal constituency, Mr. Douye Diri, made this known when he visited the community to assess the level of destruction.
Residential houses, church buildings, farm lands, electric poles and cables were destroyed last week in the oil-rich Biseni clan of Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa state by a devastating rainstorm.
Many residents have been rendered homeless just as the town has been thrown into darkness.
Regrettably, no form of emergency relief had been provided in the oil-rich community one week after the incident.
The victims are still counting their losses.
An aged woman whose thatched house and farm were destroyed, Mrs. Beatrice Warifateye, said she no longer has shelter and urged government and relevant agencies to come to their aids.
For Chief Henry Okosika, community leader and leader of Spiritual faith of Christ Church international, whose roof was removed, the early morning rainstorm took them by surprise.
“Around 4am, unexpectedly, this wind came and destroyed our houses. Electric poles went down. See our church, the roof was removed. Nowhere to worship. I don’t even know the cost of things destroyed. They should come and help us”, Okosika appealed.
The lawmaker representing Yenagoa constituency III in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Mr. Gentle Emelah, who noted that it was a thing of joy that no life was lost, said there was the need to restore electricity in the community immediately.
“The only consolation is that no life was lost. You have seen the colossal damage, the level of impact on the life of the people. My appeal is for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to immediately come to the aid of the people. Also, the State Emergency Agency should step in. And equally the Ministry of Energy to liaise with oil multinationals operating here to ensure that power is restored to the community. I am going to sponsor a motion on this by Tuesday to let the whole world know about the calamity in the community”, Emelah stated.
The member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Douye Diri, who led a team to inspect the extent of damage done to Biseni community at the weekend said evaluation of destruction was an urgent action to guide anyone or groups coming with support and relief.
“To those who are affected, we have started with a process, and it is process to assess the level of damage and analyse the destruction, know how many affected. We would need a professional property evaluator to do that in no distant time. We will also follow up with international oil companies, follow up with government ministries, agencies and departments at federal and state levels to take urgent relief action”, Diri stated.
Mr. Diri, appealed to the people of Biseni community to keep the peace and called on the relevant government agencies at the state and federal levels including oil multinationals to always respond on time to natural disasters and assuage the sufferings of victims across the country.
“When I get back to Abuja, I will raise my voice on this natural disaster by a motion on the floor. The world need to know what has befallen our people. I also call on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to respond immediately to this disaster and to all others that happened across the country. That is what government should do,” he said.
