By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa—THE dumbfounding demand for sand for construction work and land filling in the predominantly riverine Bayelsa State is threatening the existence of communities, along the rivers, creeks and rivulets, across the state due to the jumbled quarrying for sand. Niger Delta Voice investigations revealed that prior to the invasion of the rivers and creeks by the sand merchants with their hi-tech foreign built dredgers and locally fabricated dredgers, many of the communities were troubled by marine erosion.

No fewer than 15 dredgers were seen excavating sand, along the Yenagoa-Agbura-Otuokpoti-Onuegbum waterways alone, due to the head to foot demand for sand in the state on daily basis. The large presence of dredgers along the troubled environment, analysts warned, could spell doom for the previously crumbly river banks.

Renowned Niger Delta environmentalist, Comrade Alagoa Morris, grumbled that some of the dredging sites are so close to houses, warning that the trend, if not addressed, could be cataclysmic for the communities.

Alarming                                        

Morris said,  ”The scale at which sand is being sourced now in the state, especially within the vicinity of the state capital and not so far from it has assume an industrial proportion and becoming a source of concern for environmentally conscious citizens and other keen observers in the state.

“The way and manner sand is being mined with dredgers in our rivers and creeks; especially as it is currently sailing within parts of Yenagoa and Ogbia local government areas of the state has not only attracted genuine concerns, but also calls for the attention of the authorities to step in to allay the fears of those expressing concern; specifically about the negative impacts and safety of communities around such large scale dredging sites.

“Before the creation of Bayelsa State, sand required for construction of building purposes was minimal and oftentimes such demands were met by local sand divers around our communities. To some extent, they also moved away from the community before engaging in the act. “This was because they also took into consideration the negative impacts of removing sand from the river/creek right in front of the communities. And that was very fine.

“Today, even though the locals could still be found doing their sand diving around our community environment,  the industrial scale mining is alarming as in some community environment , over 10 dredgers are positioned and dredging on daily basis.

Landslide

“With the volume of sand removed daily along our water ways like Kolo Creek, Ikoli River,  Taylor Creek, Otuokpoti, Agbura and others, there is this fear of landslide in the near future or very serious coastal erosion leading to the loss of vast expanse of land; including houses and may be, loss of lives. “It is only proper that the state government, through the Ministry of Environment wade into the situation and ensure a proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is carried out at such sites before approval is given for such industrial scale sand mining around our communities.”

Govt should approve

sites for dredgers

Another concerned Bayelsan, Moneyman Jones, pleaded that dredgers should dredge only at government approved sites around the state.