By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Ahead of the rainy season, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, (UNICEF) and the state Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have commenced the assessment of the level of damage incurred during last year’s rainy season and the resultant flooding.

The assessment is to ensure the rehabilitation and replacement of the destroyed social amenities in some parts of Anambra State during the devastating flooding of last year.

It was learned that the assessment which kicked off last week will include the repair of the facilities in public schools, markets, Primary Health Care Centers, and other public places,

Report has it that one of the reasons for the rehabilitation was to discourage open defecation and the outbreak of cholera in the affected areas.

The team visited flood-prone areas like Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Awka North, and Ogbaru Local Government Areas where flood destroyed most public facilities, while in Ekwusigo and lhiala areas, the UNICEF technical team discovered that many farmlands and some buildings were damaged.

A total of eighty-three facilities were adversely affected by the flood in the seven LGAs.

While commending the world body and Anambra State Government for their efforts in ameliorating the plight of the affected persons, one of the technical partners of UNICEF, Mr. Mike Onyemelukwe said that it would go a long way in reducing open defecation, which had become rampant in the communities as a result of the flooding.

According to him, “Open defecation and cholera could be prevented if the facilities required are provided. The donor agencies are interested and perturbed in issues concerning women and children.”

On his part, the Programme Manager of the state Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, RUWASSA, Mr. Tochukwu Nwosu urged the Anambra State government to continue to support UNICEF in its efforts to provide water and sanitation facilities in communities that did not benefit from UNICEF intervention scheme.

He observed that some communities not affected by the flood also lacked social amenities