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By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has ordered the removal of illegal structures and traders around all markets in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Governor Diri gave the order on Wednesday inside the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Yenagoa.
According to a statement by his chief press secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the governor said the pronouncement was necessitated by the resurgence of clashes between rival cult groups at the Swali market area.
Diri recalled that at the inception of his administration, illegal traders and structures were evacuated from the Swali market to bring sanity to the area, but expressed regrets that it had been re-occupied by miscreants and traders.
He said: “There has been a running battle between cult groups around the Swali market. We had earlier dislodged the same cultists at the beginning of this administration and ensured that the market was not obstructed. We also removed the illegal structures and traders.
“However, yesterday (Tuesday), we had clashes between cult groups around Swali market area and traders that had taken over the roads. I hereby direct the special advisers on Security Matters and their team to swing into action at the Swali market again.
“From today, no street trading should be found in and around Swali market and all other markets within the state capital.”
The Bayelsa helmsman also directed the security advisers to synergise with security agencies to carry out a 24-hour patrol around the Swali market area and other markets to ensure protection of lives and property.
He stated that mobile courts would also be reinstated at the Swali market to prosecute defaulters of the order.
In related development, the Bayelsa State Government has stopped all illegal dredging activities within Yenagoa, the state capital and its environs.
The commissioner for Environment, Hon. Iselema Gbaranbiri, gave the directive when he went for an on-the-spot assessment of one of the dredging sites in the Tailor Creek area of Gbarain clan in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
Hon. Gbaranbiri, in a press statement signed by Kwokwo Tariebi, said the commissioner stated this while condemning the ugly act, expressed dissatisfaction over the current situation of the land as a result of the dredging activities.
He further stated that the government is concerned about the plight of the Gbarain people and thus would no longer condone such chaotic acts from the companies involved.
The commissioner said, “The state government is battling with flood and erosion, farmlands are collapsing, and these dredging activities are only compounding the problems of the state”.
While disclosing to the operators on site, that there had been series of complains and petitions, regarding their activities, he directed that a Re-Stop Dredging Order which had been earlier issued be re-issued to the companies involved.
Responding, Mr. Dino Steven, one of the individual dredgers, acknowledged the illegality of the activities and promised to follow the requisite procedure from the state.
He however, thanked the commissioner and his team for the fast caution, while also disclosing that, environmental issues would be a thing of the past, if the commissioner continued in this manner.
Others who went on the inspection were the permanent secretary, Ministry of Environment, Mr. Waripamo Martin; director, Flood and Erosion in the ministry, Mr.Daniel Tenemeni, among others.
In another development, Hon. lselema Gbaranbiri, while speaking to newsmen in his office on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, lamented on the devastating effect of dredging activities on the land and environment, adding that communities where these activities take place are suffering.
He therefore, reiterated that all illegal dredging activities, especially those on the shorelines in the state, be stopped forthwith, adding that these activities are only compounding the problems of flooding and erosion in the state and that, anyone caught in the act would be made to face the consequences.
Hon. Gbaranbiri also assured Bayelsans that the Prosperity Government is working to ensure it addresses the various environmental problems, ranging from flooding, erosion and others, adding that the Ministry of Environment is alive to its duties.
