We’re doing a lot to prevent flooding - NIWA boss

Managung Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Chief George Moghalu, was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Preaidential Villa on Thursday as the government prepares to wind down.

In this interview with newsmen after a closed-door meeting with Mr. President, the NIWA MD asserted that his agency is doing everything possible to prevent flooding during this year’s raining season; or to mitigate the the damage that usually come with flooding where total prevention becomes impossible. Our Correspondent was there.

What challenges do you face as an agency in trying to execute your mandate?

Yes, there may be challenges, but challenges are there for man to overcome and we’re doing our best with the support we’ve been receiving from Mr. President and from our ministers and our ministry, leaders in our ministry, Permanent Secretary, everybody. We have been achieving reasonable successes and we intend to sustain it until we actualize our desired ambition, which is to ensure that our waterways are all year round navigable to ensure that the potentials that abound in that sector of the economy, the maritime sector, is kind of explored and exploited for the benefit of our people.

The rains are already here, what are you going to do to ensure flooding does not occur this year?

Yes, I agree with you that challenge is there. Proactively, what we are doing is to first of all sensitize the people, identify the critical areas and get people to know what will happen with time. With regards to clearing, yes, water hyacinths are being cleared on a regular basis, wrecks are removed, channels that are blocked, we do everything we can, within the limits of our resources to open up those channels so that we can have easy flow of water during this period.

What about the wrecks?

Yes, I said earlier that wrecks, even floating debris are all being removed at various locations across the entire country, as we identify them, we do the basic survey and once we identify them, we set the process in motion to remove them. We’re doing some now as we keep identifying them, and you know these things like water hyacinth, like wrecks, like floating debris, are not fixed items that you will say ‘I will remove now and it won’t be there again. You can remove a wreck tomorrow and by next tomorrow, another wreck will come. What are these wrecks? Broken down vessels that are condemned, logs and what have you. So as we identify them, using survey, identify the coordinates, the next thing we do is to set in motion the process of removing them.

As we speak, procurement processes have been concluded and some are being removed while as we identify, we set in motion the process of removing. We see them as a challenge and we are attacking them.

There are concerns over the National Water Ways Bill as the 9th NASS will be winding up soon.

National Assembly winding up does not mean that the country is winding up, it’s a continuum. If they are not able to finish whatever they have to do this time around, the next Assembly will continue and complete it. The important thing is that bills that are meant for the benefit of our people will be looked at from that perspective and addressed. If this Assembly can’t finish it, the next Assembly will continue, that’s why government is a continuum.

Annual flooding, what are you doing to ensure we don’t have the kind of humanitarian crisis we had last year?

Yes, it’s of a great concern. Like you talked about what happened last year, it was of great concern to us as an agency of government that has something to do with water and flood. So what we started doing proactively was first of all to start aspects of sensitization, getting people to understand because we have a department in our office that monitors flood flow, looking at the floodplain and giving us report on a monthly basis or bi-weekly basis, to my office and then the department that is responsible will now develop the data, which we’ll now use to sensitize the people, keep them informed of the possible floodprone areas so that people will have to leave those locations. While at the same time also,