Chairman of Degema Local Government Council in Rivers State, Michael John Williams, Tuesday, led a team of medical personnel to the ancient Bille Kingdom in Degema LGA.
The visit was in response to the perennial outbreaks of Cholera and other waterborne diseases plaguing the kingdom.
Speaking at the Palace of the Amanyanabo of Bille Kingdom, King Igbikingeri Ngowari Cornelius Herbert, Agbaniye-Jike XVIII, the council boss stated that the visit was to have a background information of the situation, with a view to permanently addressing it, to forestall a future recurrence.
He said following the outbreak, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, immediately directed the Ministry of Health and affiliate agencies to respond to the health crisis and bring it under control.
Williams stated that the council will give all necessary support to the experts from the health sector to ensure that the issue does not reoccur, assuring that the State Government in conjunction with the Council will do all it could to restore normalcy in Bille.
The chairman, who also commended the people of Bille for making good use of the Surveillance Boats, procured by his administration to secure their waterways, further pledged the council’s support to undertake its maintenance for a sustainable use of the facility.
In his speech, the Amanyanabo of Bille Kingdom, King Igbikingeri Ngowari Cornelius Herbert, expressed his appreciation to the chairman for his continued show of love towards his people.
He noted that Bille was the first Community in the area to feel the impact of the chairman, through the donation of fully equipped surveillance boats to curtail the security challenges experienced by commuters along the Bille/Port Harcourt Waterways.
While thanking the state government for its swift response to the outbreak of the disease through the Ministry of Health, the monarch appealed for more drugs to be made available in the interim, noting that the ones earlier sent were very effective in containing the effect and spread of the disease.
He appealed to the government to build a bigger water treatment plant for Bille Kingdom, as the one they currently have was too small and the treatment process, equally too slow, thus, inefficient in serving the area.
The traditional ruler also appealed to the council chairman to support the Bille security architecture by taking over the responsibility of its logistics, as the kingdom alone could not shoulder the huge responsibility.
Giving a vote of thanks on behalf of the Bille Chiefs’ Council, the Spokesman and former Caretaker Committee Chairman of DELGA; Boma Dappa, lauded the council boss for always prioritizing the issues of Bille, noting that the kingdom had never had it this good in the history of local government administrations and pledged the unalloyed support of the entire Bille Kingdom to his administration.
Highpoint of the event was the inspection of the water sources (Wells) and treatment centre, and taking of samples by the health officials to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the annual waterborne disease outbreak.
The chairman was accompanied on the visit by representatives in the health sector including, Dr. Nyarawo Ekanem; Director, Disease Control, Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board and Napoleon Adah of the Rivers State Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Agency (RUWASA).
Others were; Dr Victor Abikor of the State Disease Surveillance & Notification Office and Dr. Cookey-Gam of the Ministry of Health in Degema LGA, amongst other top officials of Delga Council.
