The Edo State Government on Wednesday said it has paid N800 million as counterpart funding for a European Union-supported project aimed at tackling erosion and flooding in the state, particularly within Benin metropolis.

The Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Barrister Nosa Adams, revealed this during the Ministry of Information and Strategy’s bi-monthly press briefing in Benin City.

He said the project is a continuation of the Benin Storm Water Project initiated by former Governor Adams Oshiomhole but discontinued by the immediate past administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Recalls that Oshiomhole, in 2012, launched the Benin Storm Water Project to address the perennial flooding and erosion challenges in Benin City, committing about N30 billion to the initiative.

As part of the project, he announced the construction of a 13-foot-deep drainage channel along New Lagos Road to connect the canal at Five Junction with the canal at the Traditional Ground to curb erosion in the city. However, the Obaseki administration later described the project as fraudulent and discontinued it.

Speaking on the state’s renewed efforts to address erosion and flooding, Adams said all necessary documentation would be completed within the next two months, after which work would commence.

He said: “One of the major challenges we are facing at this time is flooding and erosion control, especially in some notorious flashpoints. His Excellency has followed up with the European Union Investment Bank and ensured the payment of the counterpart funding. Edo is one of the states that promptly fulfilled this obligation to enable the continuation of the Benin Storm Water Project, which was halted by the last administration.

“Now that the counterpart funding has been paid, the second and final phase of the comprehensive Benin Storm Water Project is expected to commence within the next two months. We intend to extend the project to areas such as Tomline, Siluko Road and Ekewan Road. I can assure residents that flooding and erosion will become a thing of the past in those areas.”

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the state government plans to embark on a massive reclamation of the Government Reservation Area (GRA), alongside the construction of drainage channels to channel floodwaters into the Ogba River and prevent flooding in the area.