Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The South-South Development Commission (SSDC) has delivered humanitarian aid supplies to residents of Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State following persistent gasoline seepage and methane emissions which have contaminated underground water sources, rivers, and native wells.
The intervention, initiated by the Commission’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Ms Usoro Akpabio, is aimed toward assuaging the hardship imposed on residents by the environmental disaster that has disrupted livelihoods, threatened meals safety, and affected entry to secure consuming water.
Leading the SSDC delegation to the affected group, the Executive Director, Social Services and Human Capital Development, Preye Aganaba, conveyed the Commission’s assurance that Bille wouldn’t be deserted.
Akpabio, in an announcement, described Bille as a major financial hub in Rivers State and the South-South area, warning that the environmental emergency posed critical humanitarian and financial penalties.
“The plight of the people of Bille is of great concern to the Commission. Their recovery remains a priority, and we want to assure them that they will not be overlooked in our developmental agenda,” she stated.
She disclosed that the Commission offered 86 classes of meals and non-food objects, together with rice, beans, garri, noodles, cooking oils, mattresses, mosquito nets, wrappers, buckets, sanitary pads, and child diapers.
According to her, the intervention aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Commission to present aid to weak communities and speed up improvement throughout the six South-South states.
Akpabio added that the SSDC’s response was designed to complement the efforts of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers State Emergency Management Agency, and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
She pledged the Commission’s continued dedication to environmental safety, catastrophe resilience, sustainable infrastructure, and livelihood restoration throughout the area.
Speaking on behalf of the Bille Council of Chiefs, its Chairman, Chief Bennett Okpoke, recommended the SSDC for responding to the group’s plight however urged the federal and state governments to deal with the foundation reason for the disaster.
He stated residents had endured extended gasoline and methane seepage, with devastating results on their water sources, livelihoods and each day actions.
Okpoke appealed to related environmental and regulatory businesses to urgently develop a long-lasting answer to the air pollution, warning that the group’s well being and financial survival had been at stake.
Also talking, the NEMA’s Head of Operations for Bayelsa and Rivers States, Dr Chidi Ogundu, stated the company had approached the SSDC over the emergency and recommended the Commission for its swift intervention.
He disclosed that an Environmental Impact Assessment had been performed, with findings indicating vital adversarial results on the group.
Describing the state of affairs as a collective accountability, Ogundu stated: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
He additional revealed that NEMA’s technical crew had commenced efforts to deal with the group’s potable water challenges and scale back residents’ publicity to potential well being hazards.
The aid supplies, offered on behalf of the SSDC’s managing director, board chairman and administration, had been formally handed over to the group via NEMA.
The delegation was obtained by the Bille Council of Chiefs, representing His Royal Majesty, King Igbikingeri Ngowari Cornelius Herbert, Agbaniye-Jike XVIII.
