As part of efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding in the coastal areas of Anambra State, a two-day workshop on flood resilience titled ‘Riverside Resilience: Unveiling Anambra’s Flood-Resilient Building Traditions,’ on Monday kicked off in the state.
The workshop held in Awka, is organized by a German NGO, Heinrich Böll, and ADDapt (an Architectural firm) in collaboration with the Anambra State Physical Planning Board.
The workshop seeks to address the challenge of the government having to relocate residents of flood-prone areas to Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camps, whenever flooding happens annually.
A follow-up to an earlier workshop held by Heinrich Böll in Lagos, where some members of staff of the ANSPPB were in attendance, the two-day event seeks to pair indigenous knowledge with innovative solutions while ensuring environmental preservation, preservation of traditional architecture plus historical monuments and ultimately to eliminate or minimize the need to relocate the indigenous settlers of the identified flood-prone areas.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the State Physical Planning Board, Barr Chike Maduekwe said because of the obvious erosion and flooding challenge of Anambra State, the governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has been intentionally supporting the development of the Anambra State Flood Resilient Plan.
He said because of the support, the Board is partnering with foreign NGOs to develop new typologies for buildings, which they can pair with the traditional methods of building and innovation, to have buildings that will withstand such disasters.
“It is not every time the flooding happens that people should be relocated to IDP camps.
“This workshop is therefore, to look at all the options that will help to develop flooding-mitigating strategies for building structures that can help inhabitants live normally when flooding happens.
“The governor’s main focus is building a sustainable, green, liveable homeland for Anambra people and this cannot be achieved if a part of the state is having such challenges. So in terms of funding, he is providing it.
“We must acknowledge that some of these flood-prone communities in the past were not so affected by this flooding. So we are looking at some of those traditional architecture that enabled them to survive flooding in those days, so that we can match them with innovation, for better living,” he said.
In her remarks, Miss Eve Nnaji, a principal partner with ADDapt, who represented Monica Umunna of the Henrich Böll Foundation, explained that the decision to bring the workshop to the state was to improve the state’s interaction with water and ensure that the people who hitherto, have been the cause of several flood challenges through their harmful practices, will begin to provide solutions to the issues.
The State Commissioner for Lands, Prof Ofonze Amucheazi, SAN said his Ministry is partnering with the ANSPPB to ensure that the right approvals are given and that the green areas stipulated by the government are adhered to.
He harped on the need to sensitize the public on the activities of the State Materials Testing Laboratory, to ensure that the people take full advantage of the Lab to do the right things in the structural development business.
On her part, the State Head of Service, Barr Theodora Igwegbe said the workshop came at the right time because very soon the rains will begin.
“The essence is therefore to equip the participants with the strategies to mitigate the impact of flooding in their communities and it is expected that participants will step down the strategies to the grassroots so that people at the community level will do the right thing to mitigate the effect of flood,” she said.
In their separate remarks, Igwe Ben Emeka of Umueri, one of the coastal communities of the state, lamented the habit of dumping refuse in the waterways which results in flooding of the roads and subsequent erosion, calling for strict enforcement of the law and punishment of offenders, while a town planner, Pascal Okoye, hinted on the activities of private estate developers who acquire vast lands without making plans for proper flood water management, calling on government to look into the issue.
On his part, the President-General of the Anambra State Association of Town Unions, ASATU, Barr Titus Akpudo expressed their willingness to carry the message down to the grassroots to ensure that the people are equipped with resolutions of the meeting.
At the workshop, various sessions were featured where participants brainstormed on the traditional building practices of the indigenous people and made suggestions on ways to remodel them for better results in addressing the flooding challenges of the state.
