PEOPLES GAZETTE
The federal government has begun an assessment of dams across the country to stem the tide of flooding in Nigeria.
The Minister of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, said this in Owerri on Friday while addressing reporters after an assessment tour of dams in the South-East.
Mr Utsev, represented by Oluwatosin Abiola, the deputy director of Geo-technical divisional head of the dams department in the ministry, said President Bola Tinubu’s directive was to critically analyse the integrity of dams in Nigeria.
The minister heads the inter-ministerial committee and said the committee would also assess the environmental and social impacts on local communities and the extended environment.
“President Bola Tinubu wants all hands on deck to arrest the challenge of flooding, hence the setting up of this inter-ministerial technical committee.
“We have visited the Adada and Ivo dams in Enugu State, as well as the Amauzari and Inyishi dams in Imo, and we will return to the committee for further action,” the minister said.
He added that the findings would form an action plan to solve challenges faced by dam construction in Nigeria and address challenges associated with flooding, water supply, irrigation and hydroelectric power generation.
Mr Utsev mentioned that the member ministries of the committee include the ministries of environment, housing, works, budget and national planning, information and national orientation agency, and finance.
He said that to expedite the committee’s activities, he inaugurated a technical sub-committee chaired by his Ministry’s Director of Dams and Reservoir Operations.
According to him, the sun-committee comprises technical offices from the member ministries, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation, the Nigeria Society of Engineers, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria and other technical experts.
“The overall mandate is to undertake a detailed assessment of dams in Nigeria to determine their structural integrity…
