The National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development (N-HYPPADEC) has said it is embarking on a needs assessment of communities ravaged by floods in Nasarawa State yearly.
It said the needs assessment would enable the commission to develop a robust database to provide critical infrastructure and other interventions for flood-affected communities.
The Commission’s Managing Director, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq-Yelwa, stated this at the opening of a two-day “Community Mapping and Need Assessment Training” for its staffers in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
Represented by the head of press and public affairs, Malam Nura Tanko Wakil, the managing director said the commission is targeting 30 communities across seven local government areas in the state for the exercise.
He said the affected local government areas include Awe, Keffi, Kokona, Karu, Nasarawa, Doma and Toto.
He said the training and the corresponding outcome will directly inform efforts to prioritise projects, enhance operational efficiency, and promote socio-economic development in the affected areas.
He noted that the commission has provided interventions to mitigate flood effects in the ten states under its jurisdiction through projects identified by respective communities.
Some of the intervention projects include drainages, bridges, healthcare facilities, and education support.
He said that on a larger scale, the commission is implementing relocation plans through a housing scheme to move communities in red zones to safer grounds.
The managing director explained that the commission has built 250 and 150 such facilities in Niger and Kogi states.
He charged the participants and the facilitator to make the exercise worthwhile, noting that its outcome will inform decisions on education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic empowerment initiatives.
Also speaking at the occasion, the commissioner of environment, Mr Yakubu Kwanta, who was represented by Mr Garba Rosha, the ministry’s permanent secretary, commended the federal government and the N-HYPPADEC management for including Nasarawa among the states listed under the commission.
He pledged the state government’s commitment to supporting the commission in realising its objectives in addressing the challenges posed by yearly flooding across the intervening states.
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