Volta Dam Spillage Flood  Victims Are Living Safely  Of Where They Were Accommodated—North Tongu DCE Allays Fear

THE DISTRICT Chief Executive (DCE) for North Tongu District Assembly in the Volta Region, Mr Divine Osborne Fenu, has lamented the sad loss of dozens of properties and valuable items by thousands of people living in the communities along the lower Volta basin, following the spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Akuse dams by the Volta River Authority (VRA).

The DCE disclosed that the government through Volta River Authority and other relavant stakesholders have been providing several hot meals and relief items to affected residents at their safety locations in the various communities.

He indicated his outfit commitment to collaborate with the NADMO and other stakesholders to continue to ensure the protection of the lives of the victims and the properties and urged the affected residents to adhere the safety measures put in place by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to safeguard their lives 

Weeks of spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Akuse Dams by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and floods have affected million people in twenty-four (24) communities across the North Tongu District, killing hundreds of domestic animals, displacing tens of thousands and destroying many hectares of croplands. 

Thousands of homes have been submerged in the flood, destroying properties worth millions of cedis, with many rendered homeless.Mepe township has been the worst hit.

The devastated floods have deepened severe food crisis in these 24 affected communities which are Gblornu, Klamadaboe,Vome, Sikor, Dzimakorpe, Memordzi, Aveyime, Battor, Mepe, Tornu Dorfor, Asimekope, Dorfor Kome, Dorfor London, and Afaode,Korsive,Sayikorfe, Husikorfe.

The rest are Titikorfe, Kodome, Tege kofe, Kwamla kofe and Abortia Sapa, Dadome and Mepe Degorme.

Speaking in an interview with Soireenew.com via telephone call on Sunday October 15, 2023to to update the public on the flooding situation, Mr Fenu who doubles as the Chairman of the North Tongu District Security Committee (DISEC) stated that the affected flood victims were housed at the safety places by the government through the Assembly.

According to the hardworking DCE,the flood victims are equally enjoying some relief items  in their current safety locations, adding that there is no cause for alarm.

"We have identified the affected flood victims and devised human centered measures to house the affected flood victims at the safe havens within various classrooms of school buildings," he stated.

To prevent them not to be infected by the related water borne diseases, the DCE noted that the government through the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has devised health care provision measures to ensure that the professional medical workers were stationed at the various places the flood victims were accommodated to give them the needed health supports.

"We have been providing them with both technical and logistical supports.We have equally served the victims with the relief items brought by the government. We have been providing them with proper medical care,' the DCE disclosed to Soireenews.com.

He stressed that the stakesholders and the relief support team were playing pivotal roles to ensuring alleviating the woes of the worst affected flood victims in Mepe, Bator-Aveyime and other North Tongu towns and villages on the bank of the Volta River. 

He noted that they have toured the areas affected by the Akosombo and Akuse Dams spillage with the efforts to ensuring that the relief items donated by the central government through the National Disaster Management (NADMO) were given to the victims who were accommodated at the various safety evacuation places.

He said they were committed that the affected flood victims benefited from the relief items from the government and called on the affected citizens to be calm since the government has devised measures to bring their situation under proper control.

He added that President Nana Addo Dankwa Alufo-Addo has taken a centre stage to ease the plights of the flood victims all these affected communities in north, central and south tongu districts of the region.

He noted that President Nana Addo Dankwa Alufo-Addo's unwavering to support the victims is evident of him to constitute an Inter-Ministerial Committee to address the Volta dam spillage-induced flooding.

“Headed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the committee will coordinate the government’s response to the unfortunate flooding of some communities,” a statement issued by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who is also a member of the committee, said.

Other members of the committee include the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan K. Botwe.

The rest are the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye; the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako Atta; the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie; the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Freda Prempeh; the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, and the Minister of Information.

More emergency supplies

The people of Mepe entreated the government and its relevant agencies to speed up relief efforts to alleviate the plight of the people.

Mr Fabian said the thousands of displaced people urgently needed food supplies, drinking water, temporary accommodation facilities, medical interventions and clothing to prevent the already deplorable situation from further aggravation.

Looming disaster

The association said there was a looming health crisis following the flooding of toilet facilities and refuse dumps.

“The river has been heavily contaminated leaving many, who depend on its water for cooking, drinking and other domestic uses, in a difficult situation,” the Chairman of the MDA told the Daily Graphic.

He said the situation had become dire because pipe-borne water had been shut down alongside widespread power cuts.

Mr Fabian described the situation as the worst since the 1965 flooding disaster that occurred following the construction of the Akosombo Dam.

“We are appealing for support from concerned individuals, organisations and other interested parties for the victims of the disaster in these trying moments,” he said.

Volunteers

The MDA Chairman expressed appreciation for the communal spirit and support exhibited by the youth and volunteers for the flood victims.

He said by so doing, they had saved lives and salvaged properties, urging “let us continue to be one another’s keeper and keep faith alive. We shall overcome”.