Categories: Osun

Flood: Traders Lament, Call For Urgent Intervention

Indian villagers wade through flood waters with a raft made from gas canisters in Balurghat in West Bengal on August 17, 2017. At least 221 people have died and more than 1.5 million have been displaced by monsoon flooding across India, Nepal and Bangladesh, officials said August 15, as rescuers scoured submerged villages for the missing. STR / AFP

Kazeem Badmus

TRADERS at MDS and New Orisunmibare in Osogbo, capital of the State of Osun, have lamented incessant flood occurrence at the area whenever there is a downpour.

The traders appealed to the state government to urgently address the recurring menace of flooding in the area.

Flood has been prevalent in the area for months as a result of the blockage of drainage and erosion channels which prevented the free flow of water when it rains.

Some of the traders who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday said the incessant flooding in the area is a threat to their business and safety.

“We are always afraid of losing our goods and properties to flood whenever it rains in this area, said Mrs Abosede Agunbiade, a trader at MDS.

She noted that traders whose shops are by the roadside have lost their goods times without number to flooding this year, calling on relevant authorities to come to their aid.

Another trader, Abimbola Olasunkanmi, called on the government to be responsive in permanently putting a stop to flooding in the area.

She said all the flood prevention measures taken by the traders have not been fruitful, stating that only government can take appropriate steps to stop the menace.

She said: “This is the issue we have been having during rainy season. Traders, especially those of us with our shops near the road went through a lot to prevent the loss of goods whenever there is downpour.

“Some of the drainage has been blocked and the other ones are too tiny to accommodate erosion when there is downpour. If you see us during this period, you will pity us.

“The government is the only one that can help us and I’m appealing to them to beam their favorable searchlight at us and end this menace”.

Another trader, Mrs. Olabisi Gbadamosi, said leaders of the market had written series of letters to the state government over the flooding but nothing has come out of it yet.

“Our leaders have written the government about the flooding on many occasions but to the best of my knowledge, nothing good has come out from it. We need government’s intervention here” she said.