Photos show the usual pitiable flooding of staff quarters, which is gradually destroying the buildings in the flooded part of the Staff Qtrs.
You can imagine how you will feel like, when flood water wakes you up at night and you find your children drowning. You can see how, suddenly you get into a rescue operation to save your children; and possibly, if it gets to that point, press the stomach of the drowning child to deflate the stomach! What a horror! That is exactly the scenario at the flooded Quarter of CRUTECH.
Every Vice Chancellor of CRUTECH promised to excavate a drainage channel for rapid evacuation of the flood water. At the end of 5 years, they leave, without any significant attempt to give effect even to half of the promise!
The approaches, which have been made to Cross River State Government, have, so far, been fruitless. At the meeting of the residents of CRUTECH Staff Qtrs, suggestions were made to contact NDDC for assistance. An approach was made to NDDC through Senator Ndoma Egba when he was in charge. Again, no action was taken to provide a drainage outfall, repair the damaged Channel and culverts or rehabilitate the channel to increase the capacity to convey municipal flood water away from CRUTECH!
It remains for the Digital Governor - Senator Prof Ben Ayade - to look into the subsisting annual flood ravages of CRUTECH Staff Qtrs in Calabar Campus. Such a feat will be historic, since the flood has continued unabated for about 20 years, since the era of Mr. Donald Duke as Governor of Cross River State.
The flood started, following the construction of Channel 1 to convey flood water from MCC through Big Qua and ending just after CRUTECH. The channel is under sized, as it passes through CRUTECH. Hence, a lot of overtopping arises every now and then - and accumulate to flood CRUTECH Staff quarters. Further, the channel was poorly constructed, as the walls have caved in at several locations. This leads to spilling of water here and there. The spilling has brought in gully erosion, which has damaged some culverts. Already, the pillars supporting the culverts restrain solid wastes which help to force water out of the channel to cause splash erosion.
So far, no way out of this conundrum! This is a public awareness campaign for good hearted people, NGOs, NDDC, Newmap, CRS Ministry of Works, etc to help look into the matter.
Today, the rainfall is massive, so, you can visualize the flood and pains of occupants of buildings where flood can rise to over one metre inside the premises.
Engr Odo Ukpata
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