The Bayelsa Development Initiative (BDI) has criticized the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state for failing to address the ecological challenges confronting the state’s coastline communities.
The BDI, in a statement issued on Friday in Yenagoa by its Secretary, Michael-Sam Rodamini, said the recent visit by Gov. Douye Diri to Odioma where the ocean surge was wreaking havoc was a demonstration of the cluelessness, incompetence, and insincerity of the PDP to solving the problems of coastal communities.
Rodamini described Diri’s visit to Odiomam where the ocean surge had rendered many people homeless, as uninspiring, belated, and an attempt to play politics with the plight of the people.
He said the governor reluctantly went to the area two days after the Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, had gone there to inspect the disaster, sympathize with the people, and gave them hope.
He said Diri, who is the Governorship Candidate of the PDP in the Nov. 11 election, immediately scheduled his visit for political exigency and not out of his genuine interest to deal with the ecological issues in the community.
Rodamini said: “The traumatized people of Odioma cried for many weeks and begged for urgent interventions from the government to save them but the Diri-led PDP government turned deaf ears to their pains.
“The people of Odioma were abandoned to the surge, which continued to encroach into the communities pulling down houses of different sizes and rendering the inhabitants homeless. Nothing was done by this incompetent government.
“Immediately the LP Candidate, Udengs Eradiri, visited the area to inspire hope, Gov.Diri assembled his entourage and went there for political reasons.
“We make bold to say that Diri’s visit was politically motivated against the backdrop of his struggle for re-election in the state.
“We want to tell Gov. Diri that the people of Odioma and indeed the entire people of Bayelsa are not foolish.
“They know when people are genuinely concerned about their plight and when they only play politics for votes. “The people have woken up and are determined to change these political hawks that had hovered around the state for many years”.
Rodamini said it was unfortunate that all the successive PDP administrations in the state had failed to realize that the wealth of Bayelsa lay in the sea and that ocean communities needed special attention for the state to be developed.
“They all cry over poor internally-generated revenue but failed to realize the economic potential of the ocean surrounding the state to generate massive internal revenue,” he said.
Rodamini empathized with the people of the Obogoro community in Yenagoa where erosion had swallowed many houses and sent residents out of their homes.
He said: “We remember that when the erosion started eating up the Obogoro community and destroying people’s hard-earned assets, the people cried, lamented, and begged the government for help but Diri’s government ignored them and provided no help.
“The people kept crying. Many of them lost their buildings and turned tenants in neighboring communities. Some even lost their lives. But the insensitive administration of Diri carried on as if all was well. But as the election draws closer, the government reluctantly started shoreline protection but later abandoned it.
“We cannot continue to allow these kinds of people at the helm of affairs. The LP candidate, Udengs Eradiri, had continued to raise the alarm over the development in Obogoro. We need to send these PDP leaders out of the Creek Haven and enthrone a better alternative.”
Meanwhile, Diri who visited Odioma in Brass Local Government Area, on Wednesday, told the people that the menace was beyond the capacity of the state government to handle alone.
The governor explained that he was seeking the help of the Federal government and oil firms operating in the area to save the coastal settlements from going into extinction and promised to start remedial work to protect the shoreline.
