By Austin Ogwuda

Asaba — An undisclosed sum of money released by the United Nations, UN, to Delta State, one of the states devastated by flood last year, is trapped and might not get to the beneficiaries, as the six-months set out for the spending of the fund, will soon expire.

Senior Adviser to Delta State Governor on Foreign Relations, Mr. Oma Djebah, disclosed this in Asaba, weekend, when the governor met with state commissioners, members of the state House of Assembly and other stakeholders, to review last year’s flood situation  and the plans being put in place to forestall a future occurrence.

He said: “From the report at the UN, which the state government sent on flooding, they commended the state governor. In fact, they said I should convey to the governor, the appreciation of the UN for the extensive and detailed report that was submitted.

“So the team leader for West Africa and North Central, whom I met there, said the office worked on immediate seed funds that should be released to Nigeria and that Delta State was number one on that list, on account of the detailed report and severity of issues that were raised. He gave me the document from the UN conveying the various sectors that should be dealt with immediately. They include health, environment, water, agriculture, food and environment/sanitation.

“He said that this fund had already been released to the country and that I should get to Nigeria and get across to them. On getting to Nigeria, I contacted Nwaka (Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties) and got to Abuja, met the Country Director. I didn’t have to talk, I showed them the document from the UN and they confirmed that actually, that this fund had been released to the country but that there were still tracking it.

“They also said that they are putting a team together that that fund they had released was fund for just six months that the money should be spent within six months of the release. And that the bulk money for the long term projects was still coming but this one is what they call the immediate remediation measures.”