The Kaduna State Government on Saturday warned against farming in residential areas, saying “such farms are often used as hideouts for evil perpetrators and breed insecurity.”
Mr Zakariah Shamaki, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Kaduna.
He said the ministry would allow every farmer to harvest whatever he or she planted for this season “but as from next year, permission must be obtained before engaging in farming in residential areas.’’
Shamaki said the Kaduna State Government had received flood alerts from the Federal Ministry of Environment due to torrential rainfall predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
He urged people living in flood-prone areas to temporary relocate to avert any calamity, adding that the ministry had embarked on early warning campaigns to prevent flood disasters across the state.
He added that the NIMET forecast showed there would be down pour, which might cause extreme flooding and landslides.
“Communities like the Tudun Hilu, Jema’a, Lere and Rigachikun have been experiencing flood since June and the report has been forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Environment to enable the state to access the Ecological Funds for prompt response.’’
The commissioner said the state had also embarked on distilling of blocked drains to ensure free flow of water, while waste were promptly evacuated to designated dumpsites, as residents were advised not to dispose their waste into the drains.
Shamaki said the government had raised a task force to sanction defaulting residents.
The Kaduna State environment and natural resources boss decried the level of congestion in the metropolis and the non-maintainace of orderliness.
He said the state government was working on modalities on how to ban corner shops and illegal commercial outfits, roadside kiosks and street hawking for sanity to return.
Shamaki said the “activities at such places are often responsible for the flood because the waste generated are just dumped anywhere, especially into the drains which block free flow of water.’’
The commissioner said the state government had also raised a committee under the chairmanship of Mr Adamu Kisk, the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General. (NAN)