The Ondo State House of Assembly on Tuesday tasked stakeholders in the state to be proactive in addressing flooding in the state.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, during a plenary, said that the lawmakers could not fold their hands and watch helplessly without finding solution to the crisis.
Oladiji asked the state Ministry of Environment to be more proactive at combating flood in the state and asked the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr Sunday Akinwalere, to appear before the house on Tuesday.
He stated that the commissioner would inform the house on disaster prevention plans for 2023, asking all relevant agencies to ensure that there was easy passage of water in all drains and canals.
The speaker said that residents of the state should desist from disposing waste and debris in water passage but that they should align themselves with modern and proper waste disposal .
Oladiji said that the state government should rehabilitate those that had already been affected by flood and ensure that there was full channelisation of water ways.
According to him, the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Benjamin Jayeola, should write to the State Emergency Management Agency ( SEMA) and other relevant agencies in the state on the need to assist flood affected people in the state.
The speaker later constituted a seven-man ad hoc committee to be saddled with responsibilities of getting in touch with relevant stakeholders on how to address flooding.
The committee, headed by Mr Gbegudu Ololade, representing Okitipupa Constituency 2 ( APC), is to submit its report within seven days.
Earlier, the member representing Ile Oluji/ Oke Igbo Constituency, Mr Nelson Akinsuroju, said a downpour on Saturday had devastating effects on the constituency.
Akinsuroju asked the leadership of the assembly to inform the executive arm to take appropriate steps in addressing flood in the area.
Similarly, Mr Oluwarotimi Abitogun, representing Akure South Constituency 2, said that two lives were lost in a flooding that ravaged the area.
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Abitogun, who appreciated the intervention of the government by deploying amphibious excavator to channel the river, said the channelisation should be fully completed.
Meanwhile, the speaker welcomed back the lawmakers from six-week recess, saying that the house would not oppose policies and programmes that would add value to people of the state.
He asked the lawmakers to brace up for the task ahead in order to ensure their successful footprint in the history of the state.
(NAN)