Sandra Micheal
Roads, and shops were flooded in Calabar south, on Friday after a downpour lasted for hours. The heavy rain witnessed in many areas of Calabar south LGA got many passengers unaware as they ran into shelter stands to avert being drained.
Streets such as mount zion, Goldie, uwanse, Orok orok, okon Ekpo, were majorly affected by the heavy downpour.
This reporter observed that many streets were flooded and the development resulted in still business activities and restricted movement. Some passersby lamented that heavy downpours like this, affect their daily activities and influence their output for the day.
A woman identified as Jacinta Ede, who does POS business while reacting said, “Whenever it rains, the canals get crowded and over-pours into the streets, and most times the water earns its way into shops. When it first started raining, I was striving to pack my sales items to a more safe place.
“I had shut my umbrella and chair and returned to take my POS advert board only to realize that the rain possessed it into the canals. I hurried after it but got exhausted afterward. passersby urged me to forfeit the POS board as well to avert being hauled away by the rain, so I sadly withdrew to my shop”.
A taxi driver, whose car fell into the waterway, conveyed anger over the issue, he recounted that whenever it rains, he parks his car and waits for the rain to lessen, but on this very day, he was surging to meet up with an appointment when the rain got enormous.
He said, “I don’t know how I got my car into the gutter, I just know it happened, I am calling on the government to please broaden these canals, they are too tiny and within three minutes of a huge downpour the entire street is been over poured with water.
“We have to park our cars and pause, even the road users have to wait for the downpour to curtail before movement will develop, this is not favorable, we sustain from our daily taxi business, I hope my plea gets to the right authorities”.
Another resident who gave his name as Stephen Howard, a young graduate of the University of Calabar, who resides at uwanse a street in Calabar South also noted that the heavy influx of water affects the daily activities of people residing in Calabar south whenever it rains.
“The lack of proper drainage system is implicating us, to deteriorate the situation, you can’t distinguish the juncture of waterways and the road, you can easily fall into the canal”, he said.
He further cited that the primary dilemma is the long accumulated dirt in the streets of Calabar south.
“Months ago, there were scenes of ecstasy in Calabar as the government recommenced waste evacuation, we all expressed satisfaction towards this, but our happiness faded since this evacuation didn’t get to some streets in Calabar south, this dirt makes way into waterways and blocks them, why won’t the streets overflow with waters? or do you expect people to keep specks of dirt in their houses?”
Onyinye Eze, who resides at Goldie by the eastern highway, pointed out, “The waterways are not big enough but if waste is properly evacuated, this drainage system won’t be blocked and people will go about their daily activity in peace, the manager of the cross river waste management agency is not doing well, most streets in Calabar south is littered with dirt, go to Goldie by the market and see the heaps of dirt accumulated for months”.
He added that “This dirt has started obstructing people’s movement, and when it rains, this dirt is been carried into the canals, people are living in Calabar south and they have been neglected for long, we need a solution to this very problem, I urge the government to come to our aid, properly manage our waste and coordinate our drainage channels to avert future heavy flood”.
