Ocean Surge: BDI berates Diri for abandoning coastal communities

The Bayelsa Development Initiative (BDI) has derided the Peoples Democratic Party-led government for failing over the years to deliberately address the ecological challenges of ocean communities in the state.

The BDI in a statement signed in Yenagoa by its Secretary, Michael-Sam Rodamini, said the recent visit by the state Governor, Douye Diri, to Odioma where Ocean surge is wreaking havoc in Brass Local Government Area, was a demonstration of the cluelessness, incompetence and insincerity of the PDP to solve the problems of coastal communities.

Rodamini described Diri’s visit to Odioma, where the ocean surge had rendered many people homeless, as uninspiring, belated and an attempt to play politics with the plight of the people.

He said the governor grudgingly went to the area two days after the Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, had gone there to inspect the disaster, sympathise and provide hope to the people.

He said Diri, who is the Governorship Candidate of the PDP for the November 11 election, immediately scheduled his visit for political exigency and not out of his genuine interest to deal with the ecological issues in the community.

Rodamini said: “The traumatised people of Odioma cried for many weeks and begged for urgent interventions from the government to save them, but the clueless Douye Diri-led PDP government turned deaf ears to their pains.

“The people of Odioma were abandoned to the surge, which continued to encroach into the communities pulling down houses of different sizes and rendering the inhabitants homeless. Nothing was done by this incompetent government. 

“But immediately the LP Candidate, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, visited the area to inspire hope, Governor Diri assembled his entourage and went there for political reasons. We make bold to say that Diri’s visit was politically motivated against the backdrop of his struggle for reelection in the state.

“We want to tell Governor Diri that the people of Odioma and indeed the entire people of Bayelsa are not foolish. They know when people are genuinely concerned about their plight and when they only play politics for votes. The people have woken up and are determined to change these political hawks that had hovered around the state for many years”. 

Rodamini said it was unfortunate that all the successive PDP administrations in the state had failed to realise that the wealth of Bayelsa lies in the sea and that ocean communities need special attention to develop the state.

“They all cry over poor internally-generated revenue but failed to realise the economic potential of the ocean surrounding the state to generate massive internal revenue”, he said.

Rodamini further sympathise with the people of Obogoro community in Yenagoa where erosion had swallowed many houses and sent residents wallowing homelessly.

He said: “We remembered that when the erosion started eating up the community of Obogoro and destroying people’s hard-earned assets, the people cried, lamented and begged the government for help, but the Douye Diri’s government ignored them providing no help.

“The people kept crying. Many of them lost their buildings and turned tenants in neighbouring communities. Some even lost their lives. But the insensitive administration of Diri carried on as if all is well. But as the election drew closer, the government reluctantly started shoreline protection but later abandoned it. This government is heartless.

“We cannot continue to allow these kind of people at the helm of affairs. The Labour Party candidate, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, had continued to raise the alarm over the development in Obogoro. We need to send these PDP clueless leaders out of the Creek Haven and enthrone a better alternative”.

Meanwhile, Diri who visited Odioma in Brass Local Government Area on Wednesday told the people that the menace was beyond the capacity of the state government to handle alone.

The governor explained that he was seeking the help of the federal government and oil firms operating in the area to save the coastal settlements from going into extinction and promised to start remedial work to protect the shoreline.