Friday, November 23, 2012
Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson
Residents
of Bayelsa State, especially those living in communities located on the
waterways, have expressed concern over the possible outbreak of
epidemics after the flood water that overran parts of the state has
dried up.
Some of the residents who spoke to Saturday PUNCH
complained that the floods had significantly affected their immediate
environment and businesses. Others complained that offensive odours
pervaded their various neighbourhoods.
Also, residents have reported an increase in cases of malaria fever across the state.
“We battle mosquitoes all nights
these days. They have increased in number and we are scared,” Paul
Manya, who lives in the Amarata area of Yenagoa, said.
He appealed to the government to
fumigate the communities in order to allay the fears of the people,
urging that medical experts should be sent to examine the health of the
people after the flood.
But Saturday PUNCH observed that reprieve came the way of the people, following the intervention of the O.B. Lulu Foundation.
The foundation promised to send a
team of 50 medical doctors to the state to check possible outbreak of
epidemic after the flood disaster.
The foundation, which donated
truckloads of relief materials worth over N30m to the state, said the
state government must be proactive in managing the health implications
of the disaster.
The board and members of staff
of the Non-Governmental Organisation led by its founder, Chief O.B.
Lulu-Briggs, handed the materials over to Governor Seriake Dickson in
Yenagoa.
The Executive Director of the
foundation, Mrs. Seinye Lulu-Briggs, said the NGO also undertook medical
intervention to support the health facilities provided by the
government.
She noted that the health facilities provided by the government were inadequate to manage the post-flood disaster in the state.
“After our consultations with
medical experts, we discovered that though everything appears okay now
that the flood water had receded, there may be an outbreak of diseases
in a few weeks if nothing is done now,” she said.
She said the team of doctors
would arrive in the state in December to work for five days at a
location that would be provided by the government.
