NEWMAP sensitises Gombe residents on erosion control management
Rebecca Mu’azu, Gombe
The Nigeria Erosion Watershed Management Project has sensitised residents of communities around Gombe Metropolis on the dangers associated with indiscriminate dumping of refuse, especially in drainages and need for biorenovation.
Speaking during the foundation laying ceremony of the Waste Disposal Centre and tree planting in gully erosion locations at the Gombe State University, the National Water Specialist with NEWMAP, Mr. Ayuba Anda, said it was the furtherance of the tree planting programme of Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.
Mr. Anda also said the projects were the core objectives of the NEWMAP Project in restoring degraded land and the protection of afforestation to combat climate change, caused by desertification.
He said the investment been done was to enhance erosion control, through bioremediation in order to stabilise and protect the soil.
According to Mr. Anda, trees had already been planted in some parts of the metropolis for the overall goal of combating erosion and desertification.
Fo the Project Water Resources Management Expert, Dr. Samuel Okata, said a study of the environment necessitated the execution of the project being undertaken to curb environmental degradation in Gombe State.
Dr. Okata said before the project, it was a pathetic sight to behold in the past.
“As at last year, we came here to collect the study to know the problems arising from the environment, the entire stretch of these waterways is divided into three, the upper, the middle and the lower sub-catchment and activities are recommended based on any part of the catchment you find yourself. You know that if you don’t solve a problem at the beginning here, you know that it will have a rippling effect downstream,” Mr. Okata said.
He said the project was seeking synergy with the university environment for the maintenance of the projects being implemented in the university because a lot of activities would be implemented within the university environment to control the degraded environment.
The Director of Works and Physical Planning of the Gombe State University, Mr. Murtala Salisu, said the project was a welcomed development because the facilities of the university would now be protected encroachment.
Mr. Salihu said the intervention would also improve the beauty of the University, which had been recording an increased influx of people from within and outside the State.
He gave the assurances that the project would be maintained while stressing that the University had already established a culture of maintenance.
The project is expected to plant between 500 to 1000 trees in the Gombe State University, alone.
