Following the challenges caused by the flood crisis devastating the state, Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has ordered a seven-day holiday for government employees.
Governor Diri stated in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday morning that the flood is a natural disaster that has to varying degrees hit many other States of the Union.
According to him, more than 300 communities in the state's almost one million residents have experienced internal displacement, and several fatalities have also been reported.
However, as workers on essential duty are still obliged to do their duties, Diri pointed out that the work-free week does not apply to them.
According to the governor, the state was facing a humanitarian crisis with over one million persons displaced across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas while businesses shut, properties lost and farmlands destroyed.
“I hereby direct all public servants except those on essential duties to be given time off from work for the next one week,” the governor said.
“Let me make a special appeal to vendors, particularly of fuel, food, water and pharmaceuticals not to exploit the situation. We must be our brothers’ keepers.
“Government has also observed that at such moments of distress, some miscreants take advantage of the vulnerable population to commit crimes. Let me make it clear that we will continue to have zero tolerance for crime and criminality.”
He said critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, have been severely affected.
Diri added that without exaggeration, the sheer scale of the devastation was not such that the state can handle it on its own.