Soludo Orders Massive Desilting of Okpoko Sacamori to Tackle Flooding
By Staff Reporter
The Anambra State Government has commenced massive desilting of the Okpoko Sacamori drainage channel as part of efforts to tackle recurring flooding that has affected homes, businesses and infrastructure in Okpoko and surrounding communities.
The intervention follows the approval of contracts by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo for four construction companies to undertake the desilting and evacuation of accumulated debris from the major flood channel.
The 20 foot Okpoko Sacamori is a critical drainage channel designed to convey storm water from parts of Awada, Fegge, Nkpor and Okpoko into the River Niger.
However, years of indiscriminate dumping of refuse, plastics and other solid waste into gutters and drainage channels have severely obstructed the waterway, reducing its capacity to discharge storm water and contributing to flooding in Okpoko and adjoining areas.
Speaking on the ongoing work, the Ogbaru Local Government Project Site Engineer, Mr Anthony Nnaetoo, said different construction companies had been deployed to various sections of the Sacamori.
According to him, the work covers the dredging of the channel from the Ndida Well section to Ogbuagu Junction, the catchment pit intersection at Orange Drug, the section from New Market to Ogbuagu Junction, as well as the portion extending across the Second Niger Bridge to the Idemili Obosi River and onward to the River Niger.
Nnaetoo said the contractors were currently evacuating large quantities of accumulated debris from the drainage channel.
He, however, expressed concern that rainfall was continuously washing fresh waste from Nkpor, Awada, Fegge and other communities into the Sacamori while the desilting operation was ongoing.
He called for a review and expansion of the intervention to enable the contractors to achieve the desired result and restore the full capacity of the drainage channel.
The Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Hon Kenneth Akwuobi, and the President General of Okpoko, who spoke to the Anambra Broadcasting Service, described the desilting project as a major intervention by the Soludo administration.
They said work was progressing across the various sections of the Sacamori and expressed optimism that the intervention would significantly reduce the impact of flooding on residents.
Some residents of Okpoko also appealed to the state government to make regular desilting of the Sacamori a permanent flood management measure, preferably once or twice every year during the dry season.
They said regular maintenance would prevent the drainage from becoming blocked again and reduce the risk of flooding during the rainy season.
Meanwhile, Mr Solomon Nweke of Cokes Market, Onitsha, called for greater public cooperation with the government.
He urged residents to stop dumping refuse into gutters and drainage channels, stressing that government intervention would have limited impact if residents continued practices that obstruct the flow of storm water.
The ongoing desilting of the Okpoko Sacamori forms part of broader efforts by the Anambra State Government to strengthen flood control infrastructure, protect communities and improve environmental management across the state.
