Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) has issued strong caution to residents of erosion-prone areas in Calabar and other towns in Cross River State to desist from blocking drainages.
Project coordinator who doubles as the Commissioner for International Development Cooperation in the state, Dr. Inyang Asibong said clogging the drains can result in more devastation.
She frowned at the rate people transform drainages across the metropolis into dumpsites when it rains rather than make use of waste bins at strategic locations.
Asibong spoke when NEWMAP handed over six rehabilitated gully erosion sites to community leaders in Calabar.
The communities that benefitted from the interventions are, Atakpa, Ikot Anwantim, Nyangasang, Lemna-Federal Agriculture, Ikot Ekpo and Edim Otop – in Calabar Municipality and Calabar South.
These communities that benefited from the erosion control intervention were challenged to take responsibility for the projects within their territories to avoid devastating consequences
She said, “Stakeholders should jealously guard the sites and ensure that refuse is not dumped into the drains as this will undermine the work already carried out.”
One of the community leaders who is chairman of Ikot Ekpo Development Association, Dr. Victor Odo recalled with nostalgia the state of the gullies before the advent of NEWMAP.
He assured of the commitment to set up measures that would discourage residents from dumping refuse into the drains.