The Ogulagha Kingdom in the Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State has called on the Federal Government to intervene in coastal erosion and sea encroachment threatening the lives and property of the people in the community.
Traditional ruler of the kingdom, Joseph Timiyan, who made the call on Wednesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Permanent Secretary of Ecological Project Office, Mallam Shehu Ibrahim, said that the situation had caused serious destruction of lives and property in the community.
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Timiyan, who was represented by the Prime Minister of the kingdom, William Igere, called for urgent intervention of the EPO, adding that the effort would help to address the situation.
The traditional ruler noted that Ogulagha Kingdom was a strategic community, being a maritime gateway and a hub for maritime activities with huge deposits of crude oil, hydrocarbons, and gas reserves, making it the highest oil-producing area in the state.
He added that over six international oil companies as well as nine oil flow- stations of gas reserves and gas projects, oil wells, and pipelines are located within the community which according to him, makes the community a strategic contributor to the nation’s economic and national developments.
In his response, Ibrahim said that the fund is equitably distributed to the federal, state, and local governments to help them tackle the different environmental challenges facing them. He said that the effort would be effective if relevant stakeholders could collaborate in tackling the menace.
“As a Federal Government, ecological office and its intervention efforts are usually spread evenly across the nation to ensure equity and fairness to all,”. he said. “The moment a community or state has benefitted from a project at a particular time, the next round of intervention will certainly go to another state within the particular geo-political zone,” he said.
Ibrahim urged the people to be patient as the government will take the necessary steps to ensure that the environmental challenges are addressed.
Story was adapted from NAN.
