Senate to Establish Erosion Bill In South-East
Senate to establish erosion bill to address the problem of erosion in the country, with special focus on the South-East Region of Nigeria.
The bill which passed second reading on tuesday seeks to establish the Erosion Control and Prevention Commission, Sponsor of the bill, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP – Anambra South) in his lead debate on the bill, said the establishment of a commission for the purpose of erosion control and prevention had become imperative in view of the catastrophic impact of erosion in several parts of the country.
According to senator ubah “Almost every part of this country is characterized by one environmental problem or the other but, however, the menace of erosion is unarguably the severest in terms of devastation and destruction; for instance, the 2012 flooding in Ibadan, Oyo State, the coastal erosion in Lagos, Bayelsa and Rivers States and almost all parts of Anambra State. It is also very important to note that gully erosion is almost taking over the entire landmass of the South East and South South.
“The problem of erosion is catastrophic in the southern part of Nigeria, while desertification is in the North, but with the enactment of the Green Wall Act by the National Assembly, the issue of desertification was laid to rest.
“In the southern part of the country, erosion is responsible for the widespread destruction of transportation and communication systems, degradation of arable land, contamination of water supply, isolation of settlements and migration of communities.
“From available statistics, more than 3,500 gullies occurred in the south east states alone. These gullies are formed by surface runoff from localized rainfall event of high intensity in the fine-to coarse-grained sand and sandstones,” Ubah said that this bill will help to correct and tackle the causing of erosion in Nigeria.
Importance of this Erosion Bill
1. It will enable better management of water Resources and quailty.
2. It will help us to manage and respond to severe weather events such as flood and climate change.
3. It will ensure that those managing the Risk of flood or gully erosion will take account of concerns in the society.
The Anambra south senator also call for the need to manage fund meant for this departments well.
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