Losses loom as flooding imminent in Bayelsa

Businesses across Bayelsa State could record losses for the second time in four years as flooding appears to be imminent due to a steady rise in the water level coupled with the October rains.

Already, several farmlands have been submerged in the alluvial plains, especially in areas that are susceptible to annual flooding, which could greatly affect local food supply.

The National Meteorological Agency (NIMETH) had predicted heavy rains for Bayelsa State this year, which could trigger heavy flooding, and going by steady rise in flood level, the prediction could come true.

Bayelsa State lying six feet below sea level is at the heart of the Niger Delta flood plain, which makes it a flood prone area before the added fact of a high annual rainfall of over 1,200 millimetres.

Some of the businesses that could be grievously affected are fish farms, which are usually established in marshy and low lying areas, and poultry farms while suppliers of goods and services also face a major risk.

Investigations reveal that it could be a repeat of the flood disaster of 2012 if adequate measures are not taken by business owners to secure their fish farms as well as poultry farms before the flood comes.

In 2012, businesses were shut down and an untold amount of money was lost as fishes escaped from fish farms into the open while food crops including cassava, yam, sugar cane, rice, plantain and banana were destroyed.

Poultry farmers also suffered severe losses when the water rose to their farms and lost hugely as they were without any alternative places to move their birds to salvage the situation.

For a state that relies heavily on food supplies from neighbouring states, it was a monumental disaster, especially with the Delta State and Rivers State axes of the major East-West cut off at the height of the flooding.

A small bag of garri, Nigeria’s main staple food, rose to about N10,000 as against the normal price of N3,300, while rice and beans became out of the reach of the common man.

A fish farmer, Gold Onovughe said he was worried by the continued rise in water level and narrated his ordeal in 2012 when he lost over N5 million when the flood overflowed his fishponds.

Onovughe disclosed that though he was able to recover from his losses at that time, the same cannot be said now as the state was passing through a financial crisis that could compound everything should the flood rise any further.

He pointed out that for a state like Bayelsa, there ought to be a comprehensive policy to combat flooding due to its negative impact on the economy and rural people who were mostly agrarian.

Unlike in 2012 and 2013, when the government took measures to tackle the menace, this time around, the state government is yet to make any pronouncements on combating the imminent flood.