By Gabriel Oke
The Management of North South Power Company Limited (NSP) has warned against an impending risk of flood in communities around the Shiroro Hydro-Electric Power Plant in Niger.
The Vice-Chairman of NSP, Mr Olubumi Peters, gave the alert during the annual stakeholders flood sensitisation forum.
Peters, represented by Mr Abdullahi Hassan, Consultant on Corporate Social Responsibility to NSP, added that the communities were those living in the upstream and downstream of NSP.
“The forum will try and come up with possible ways to reduce the devastating damages to lives and property, stakeholders are to identify most effective remedies to flooding,” he said.
He appealed to the Federal Government to hasten the implementation of the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan to provide more resilience and effective response measures to mitigate the impact of flooding.
The Chief Operating Officer of NSP, Mr Ugochukwu Chioke, while answering questions from host communities said the company alerts communities before spilling water from its reservoir.
“Before we release water, we do send out letters, hold meetings and daily public announcement on radio and television stations and then sound warning to the communities.
“We do this to enable people living around river banks to vacate the area and we give them time to vacate river banks before releasing water,” he said.
Chioke, however, said that 52 per cent of workforce in NSP were from Niger state, adding that the company would continue to execute meaningful projects in host communities as its corporate social responsibility.
Also speaking, Prof. Mansur Matazu, Director-General of Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET) said that there would be more violent convective activities due to high temperatures resulting in occasional downpour.
Matazu, represented by Mr Pwajok Gyang, state NiMET Inspector in Niger, said that settlements downstream and upstream of the Kaduna river basin are likely going to be affected.
He called on relevant disaster management agencies to take necessary steps to reduce to barest minimum the negative effects of flood.
In attendance were stakeholders from NEMA, NESREA, state and local government official.