Dredging: Making billions at the expense of Bayelsa environment

While sand dredging remains an economically viable business capable of yielding billions of Naira in profits, it has proven detrimental to the fragile ecosystem of Bayelsa State and calls for urgent measures to protect the environment from over exploitation, writes Samuel Ese in Yenagoa.

One of the most prominent businesses and money-spinning activities in Bayelsa State for the past 10 years has remained the dredging of sand from rivers, streams, creeks and sometimes upland areas for commercial purposes.

The trend increased after a popular indigenous firm was said to have made billions of Naira from the sale of sand dredged from the Ekoli River and went ahead to build a sand dredging complex on the Obogoro community side of the river.

The increase in sand dredging activities also coincided with the advent of a new technology in road construction in Bayelsa State and other Niger Delta states where mud is dug from the road and later filled with sand for durability and quality.

Since then, the traditional method of diving into the river and scooping sand from the bottom of the river with perforated buckets especially on the Yenagoa and Agbura waterfronts paled into insignificance as sand could now be accessed and supplied in tonnages.

But of dire consequence is the impact of the sand dredging activities on the environment as without dissimulating, no stakeholder including the sand dredging concerns would deny that these activities have adverse effect on communities and areas prone to river erosion.

The tale of woe is evident at Obogoro, Anibeze, Onuebum, Agbura and several communities which are experiencing increased river erosion with attendant loses of farming land, buildings, economic trees and fishing grounds thereby leading to a serious economic challenge.

It is also not contestable that the Goodluck Jonathan Bridge on the Ekoli River is in danger of collapse due to the unmitigated dredging activities both upstream and downstream of the only link between the capital, Yenagoa and Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

Another worrisome fact is that many of the dredgers are located on the areas hat are already prone to erosion and the dredging activity furthers erosion and landslides by weakening the surrounding river bed and creating large whirlpools that give the strong water currents more strength to do damage.

With the floods now ravaging the state and government attention is on opening up of natural drains and efforts to mitigate the impact of the flood on residents, it is pertinent that focus should also be on this economic activity that helps to destroy the soil’s natural resistance to river erosion.

As at now, several communities are in danger of extinction among them Anibeze and Agbere in Sagbama Local Government Area, Famgbe and Obogoro in Yenagoa Local Government Area and Ayama and Otuokpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

At Igbogene, a dredging activity on the Epie Creek created a deep gorge that is yet to be filled several years after the activity stopped while other dredging activities upstream have continued with reckless abandon.

Observations have shown that dredging activities between Agbura and Onuebum on the Ekoli River have remained the worst over the years with about 10 dredging concerns located within about a kilometre space and this has had devastating effect on river erosion.

The river which seemed some distance away from the link road is now less than 40 meters away and for all the erosion and landslides that have eaten away the land, the dredging concerns are still bent on carrying on with their businesses to the detriment of the environment.

It is difficult to fathom if the dredging firms actually carry out environmental impact assessments (EIAs) before embarking on the dredging activities or if they do, whether the activities are approved and supervised by the state Ministry of Environment.

For a riverine state that is located on a flood plane that has suffered severe flooding and river erosion over the years, it is expected that the government would toe a hardline on such activities that have had adverse effect on the environment.

The example of the number of dredging concerns located within the short distance between Agbura and Onuebum communities in an area that is not only erosion prone, but has lost a significant portion of land over the years, highlights the concern of environmentalists and other stakeholders on whether the state government is sufficiently concerned over the impact of the activities.

A concerned environmentalist expressed the opinion that the government does not have a policy framework to address the malaise otherwise, it would have stopped the dredging activities on that stretch owing to the open danger it has posed to the existence of those communities.

The environmentalist group, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria ERA/FoEN, which investigated complaints by Obogoro community on the impact of dredging activities on erosion that has been ravaging the community listed three demands in their report for prompt action to address the challenge.

In the report by ERA/FoEN field officer, Alagoa Morris, the group called for the establishment of a Flood and Erosion Control Commission to tackle related challenges due to the special deltaic nature of the state.

The group also urged the federal, state governments to “take practical steps to ensure properly conducted Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)” before carrying out any commercial or large scale dredging activities.

ERa/FoEN noted that visiting erosion sites, documenting them and making budgetary provisions are not enough and stressed the need to protect “what is left in our communities” saying that the release of funds, mobilisation to site, effective project monitoring and political will to get such projects done are of utmost importance.

The group also urged communities to be alert and not resign their plight to fate pointing out that they should not encourage man made environmental or ecological problems “by remaining docile or passive to happenings around them” while highlighting the need to set up special committees to address communal environmental issues.

According to the group, “Legitimate actions to safeguard the environment include reaching out to authorities, their representatives in government, related NGOs, the media through personal visits, letters and peaceful protests.”

The call by ERA/FoEN is apt and capable of galvanising the state into action to address the looming ecological disaster that could result in loss of whole communities, shelter, means of livelihood and worsen rural/urban migration.

Samuel Ese in Yenagoa