Flood stalls business activities in Uyo

File photo: Unidentified man walks through the flood in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State

By Etim Ekpimah

Business activities in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, came to a halt on Monday following a downpour which resulted in flooding of shops and homes.
At Ekpenyong Street, shops, offices, including the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, were flooded.

Residents and business men and women were cut off from their premises as there were many broken down vehicles on the road.

The flood also swept through IBB Way, Ukpong Ebet, Akpa Ebet, Akpan Ukpo, Udo, Urua Ikpa, streets and Barracks Road, which leads to the Government House.

A trader Mr. Okon Eka, said drainage channels in Uyo metropolis was in a poor shape.

He stated that when a complaint was brought before the government, what the officials would tell the residents was that Uyo was a table land.

“If Uyo is a table land, does it mean that government cannot do anything to reduce flooding in the so-called table land?

“I am a business man. Last year,I lost property worth N3m to flooding. We cannot continue this way,” he said.

A tricycle rider, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that residents had been facing the same situation for many years.

“The situation is not new to us as we have lost property worth millions to flood. Every year, we continue to buy new sets of property since we do not have anybody to construct drainage systems in our areas. The government has done nothing to control the flood here.”

It was observed that the IBB Roundabout, the new road that was inaugurated by President Jonathan in June 2012, was also flooded.

Senior Special Adviser to Government on Technical Matters, Mr. Etido Inyang, neither picked his calls nor responded to a text message sent to him by our correspondent, who sought to get the government’s reaction.

The Akwa Ibom State government had on November 4, 2013 told newsmen that it would need about N500bn to end Uyo flooding.

The governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, had said that it would require maximum investment to bring the issue of flooding under control.

Culled from Punch