30 Nasarawa communities to benefit from FG’s flood intervention

The federal government says it plans to undertake intervention efforts in 30 flood-prone communities in Nasarawa state.

Abubakar Yelwa, the managing director of the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), disclosed this on Monday at a needs assessment exercise in Lafia.

Represented by Nura Wakili, the commission’s head of public affairs, Yelwa said that the communities are in Awe, Kokona, Doma, Nasarawa, Toto, Keffi and Karu LGAs of the state.

He said it is the commission’s duty to help communities affected by the operations of its hydroelectric dams.

He added that the conduct of the needs assessment and community mapping exercise was part of the “bottom-up approach” his commission applies to development projects.

“We do not believe in sitting in our headquarters in Minna or liaison office in Abuja to design and execute programmes for communities,” he said.

“We want to go and see and hear first hand information on the condition of the communities. Hear the inhabitants’ challenges and their peculiarities.

“That would guide us to develop our action plan for execution of projects and programmes in the communities.”

He urged the communities to cooperate with the commission’s officials and ensure their safety and security as they carry out their duties.