Akosombo Dam Spillage: Don't Return To Your Houses Yet; It Is Very Risky—North Tongu DCE Cautions Flood Affected Victims

DISTRICT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (DCE) for the North Tongu District Assembly in the Volta Region, Mr. Osborn Divine Fenu, has sounded a strong word of caution to thousands of people affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage not to rush to return to their various homes yet although the floodwaters seem to be receding.

According to Mr Fenu who doubles as the Chairman of North Tongu District Security Committee (DISEC), their attention have been drawn to the decision of flood affected people who were currently housed in the safe heaven camps in the school buildings in Mepe Traditional Area to return to their homes without the approval from the traditional and state authorities.

The DCE expressed his disquiet against that behaviour of the victims, stressing that it is very risky for them to hurriedly return to occupy their previous houses without any proper assessment being done on their homes by the relevant building experts.

"We have a fear that for the flood victims currently housed in the safe heavens returning home without a careful examination of homes and safety approval from relevant building agencies could have several consequences, including communicable disease outbreaks and the likely collapse of structurally compromised buildings," the DCE state.

Mr Fenu issued the forgoing caution when he was speaking in an interview with Soireenews. com to update the public on the relief measures being out in place by the state and traditional authorities in the district to continue to protect the lives of those who were affected by Akosombo Dam spillage disaster.

The spillage has led to thousands of residents in South Tongu, North Tongu, Central Tongu, Asuogyaman, and various other districts displaced after their homes were submerged.

In his quick response to the possibility of people attempting to return to their homes following the receding floodwaters, the DCE called on the victims to exercise patience to remain in their safe heaven camps since there are relief measures to relocate them to other safety and alternative places.

Mr Fenu revealed that the UN interagency group made of National Disaster Management Organization Environmental Protection Agency and other building engineering experts has carried out an structural integrity assessment exercise on the buildings in Mepe and other affected communities in the lower Volta River basin with the aim at verifying how safe the buildings are before the people return to occupy them.

"So are waiting to get the details from these groups on those buildings that are safe before the people move in to occupy them back," the DCE noted and urging the victims not to return to their homes now.

He assured Akosombo dam spillage-induced flood victims that the First Sky Group, an indigenous Ghanaian conglomerate would soon completed the first phase of Safe Alternative Housing Project which it has been constructing to accommodate them.

He pointed out that when he together with some stakesholders visited the site of the project, they realized that the ongoing project has now reached 78.6 per cent and is expected to be completed very soon and hand over to the beneficiary victims.

The DCE told Soireenews.com on Wednesday that when the visited the site they observed that the work progress was going on well while the contractor, had all the necessary equipment at the site and thanked First Sky Group for its generous gesture to construct the houses which would bring relief to the displaced members of his constituency.

Following this development, Mr Fenu minced no words when he appealled to people not to go back to their homes when the water recedes because these were homes that were submerged under contaminated water.

He added that they have appealed to the National Disaster Management Organization to cordon off all of these homes and keep educating the people not to rush home in an attempt to salvage what is left."

On the question of the current harassment and attack meted out to the Akosombo dam spillage-induced flood victims at the safe heaven camps in some school buildings in Mepe by some teachers and students to vacate the classroom buildings, the DCE responded that when their attention have been drawn to the matter, they hurriedly moved to the camps to stop that behaviours exhibited these perpetrators and restored peace.

"Last week l and other stakesholders have moved to the safe heaven camps to stop the behaviours of the teachers and students who are harassing the victims to vacate the school buildings which they turned to the safe heaven camps the victims for the students to use for their learning."

He stated that the ongoing construction of the houses project solely is being undertaken by the construction of firm of First Sky Group, Construction Ambassadors Limited as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) humanitarian intervention project for flood displaced communities along the lower Volta lake in the Volta Region.

This project, according to the DCE, is being done free for the victims, stressed that " Remember that no one will be asked to pay rent for these houses. 

Mr Fenu was quick to state that they would considered giving the houses to the victims whose houses were destroyed during the  disaster.

The DCE pointed that out the worst hit affected victims are those who were currently housed in the safe heaven camps in Mepe, saying that they are concern about priorities "so we are going were attend to them first."