GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS UE FLOOD VICTIMS 20th October, 2019
Ghana’s Vice President, H.E. Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia has made a cash donation of 50,000.00 Ghana Cedis to victims
of devastating floods that hit parts of the Upper East region about a week ago.
The floods mostly pulled down houses built with mud and other local materials
while in a few cases, it caused the loss of lives. As at the last count on
Sunday, 20th October, 2019, 19 persons had been confirmed dead
resulting from the floods.
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| Vice Prez, Dr. Bawumia [in smock] sharing an issue with Interior Minister At Manyoro |
Dr. Bawumia flew into the region
Sunday morning to have a personal feel of the situation on the ground, and
subsequently made the donation in Manyoro in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality
of the region, after addressing a gathering of flood victims who had either
lost their family members or had their houses totally shuttered in the floods.
According to him, the cash which he handed over to the authorities, was for use
in areas that would meet and satisfy the immediate needs of the displaced
persons in the region.
He also disclosed that, government
had dispatched a number of trucks to the region, loaded with assorted relief
items including plastic buckets, basins, mattresses, food items, mosquito nets,
packs of soap, roofing sheets, blankets, and so on for onward distribution to
affected persons across the region.
The Vice President noted from
briefings he got from the regional directorate of the National Disaster
Management Organisation [NADMO] and the Acting Upper East Regional minister
that, the region experienced torrential rains from 6th to 12th
October, 2019 and that, the resultant floods had caused the kind of destruction
individual families alone could not cope with. He therefore stated that,
government was keenly monitoring the situation so as to be able to respond appropriately
to requests that will help restore the affected families to their regular and
normal lives.
He instructed the various
assemblies in the region to fashion out flood-resistant building techniques and
to introduce same to the citizens in their jurisdictions in order to forestall
future occurrences.
The Chief of Manyoro, Pe Dr.
Atudiwe Atudipaare Manchi III in his remarks, commended the Vice President and government
for not abandoning his people and other affected people elsewhere in the region
during these difficult times. He said his traditional area had so many other
equally important needs including extension of electricity, provision of
potable water and construction of access roads among others and thus, appealed
to government to focus special attention on his community.
Meanwhile, Hon. Joseph Kofi Adda, Member
of Parliament for the Navrongo Central Constituency who was also in the Vice
President’s team, pledged a personal support of 5,000.00 Ghana Cedis to the
victims.
Dr. Bawumia’s tour ended at the
Tono Irrigation dam site where managers of the facility gave him updates of
destruction caused to the retaining wall and spill way of the dam as a result
of the October torrential rains in the Tono enclave. Operations Manager at the Irrigation facility,
Mr. Sabastian Bagina told the Veep and his team that, the area had heavy rains
from 7th to 12th October, 2019 that caused the dam to collect huge volumes
water rising to 180.70 metres above sea level, the highest since its
construction in 1975.
The Operations Manager disclosed
that, the as many as 850 hectares of farms in the irrigated zone had been
submerged in the spilling waters and called for government’s immediate
intervention to remedy the situation. According to him, a contractor with good
expertise could use up six months to fix the problem.
Having listened keenly to the
briefing, Dr. Bawumia pledged that he would hold discussions with the ministers
for Finance and Agriculture as well as the Irrigation Development Authority
[IDA] on his return to Accra to find solutions as the dam could not be allowed
to break down. He noted that the dam had been in service to farmers in the
Upper East region for about 40 years now and there was the urgent need to
re-enforce its walls.
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