Heavy rain caused misery for residents and business owners in many parts of Uyo metropolis, Akwa Ibom State on Monday, September 8, 2014.
At Ekpenyong Street, homes and businesses including the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, were totally flooded.
Motorists and shoppers around IBB Way, Ukpong Ebet, Akpa Ebet, Akpan Ukpo, Udo, Urua Ikpa, streets and Barracks Road, which leads to the Government House also faced difficult conditions as a result of the flood.
Speaking about the incident, a trader Mr. Okon Eka, said drainage channels in Uyo metropolis was in a poor state.
He stated that when a complaint was brought before the government, the officials would tell the residents that Uyo was a table land.
“If Uyo is a table land, does it mean that government cannot do anything to reduce flooding in the so-called table land?
“I am a business man. Last year,I lost property worth N3m to flooding. We cannot continue this way,” he said.
A tricycle rider, who pleaded anonymity, also disclosed that residents had been facing the same situation for a long time now.
“The situation is not new to us as we have lost property worth millions to flood. Every year, we continue to buy new sets of property since we do not have anybody to construct drainage systems in our areas. The government has done nothing to control the flood here.”
However, efforts to reach the Senior Special Adviser to Government on Technical Matters, Mr. Etido Inyang, through a phone call proved futile.
Meanwhile, The Akwa Ibom State government had earlier briefed newsmen on November 4, 2013 that it would need about N500bn to put an end to flooding in Uyo.
