The Commissioner for Works in Anambra, Mr Marcel Ifejiofor, said on Thursday that the state government had awarded contracts to tackle perenial flooding in Onitsha and Ogidi.
Ejiofor said this in Awka but declined to disclose the cost of the two project.
He said that the projects were being handled by Bene-jaf and Nigercat.
He said: “Work has commenced on the Onitsha project, being handled by Bene-jaf and the project is to degsilt Sakamori water channel, dredge about 4.2 kilometers from the confluence of Sakamori to River Niger.
“The target of the project is to enable water from Sakamori to enter the water channel of Sakamori at 90 degree as well as water from Idemili River,” he said.
Ifejiofor said that government embarked on the project, when it discovered that water stagnation at Sakamori was the major cause of flooding in Onitsha.
The commissioner said that the Ogidi project was expected to be completed by April, 2020.
“We are at the verge of completing the due process on the Ogidi project and in the next three weeks the process will be over and the firm will move to site.
“Once Nigercat starts the job, before April next year, the job would be completed and problems of flooding being experienced by residents of Ogidi will be a thing of the past”, he said.
Ifejiofor said that the firm handling Ogidi project would channel the waters into natural water sources in the area.
He however advised the people of the state against unhealthy sanitary practices.
He said that throwing solid waste and building on waterways were major factors that cause flooding in the area.
The commissioner also regretted the impact of flood waters on roads in the area, saying the damage was becoming collosal.
