At least 31,000 individuals in nine districts have been displaced after excess water was spilled from the Akosombo and Kpong dams, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has said.
Crops have been destroyed, schools shut and the economy has come to a standstill in Mepe – the epicentre in the Volta Region – and parts of the Eastern and Greater Accra regions after the dams overflowed at Akosombo and Kpong.
“We have moved most of the affected people to a safe haven. About 31,000 people have been displaced,” NADMO deputy director general Seji Saji told Wilberforce Asare on Saturday (21 October).
No deaths had been reported in relations to the flood.
Speaking on the Asaase 99.5’s The Forum, the spokesperson of NADMO George Ayisi said relief efforts are going on as expected and called on well-meaning Ghanaians to contribute.
He said so far 20 safe havens have been created to house some of the displaced persons, adding “we are doing everything to ensure that nobody uses the water within the enclave because it’s contaminated.”
The Volta River Authority (VRA) – operators of the dam – has provided mobile toilets and working with the Ghana Health Service to treat displaced persons in mobile clinics. Fourteen of the mobile toilets have been sent to Mepe and 10 to Adidome in North Tongu and the water supply system has been restored to the Aveyime community.
The additional toilets are to help ease pressure on the toilet facilities in the safe havens. The mobile toilets are equipped with biodegrading units to aid in the control of cross-contamination. VRA said more toilet facilities will be made available to the people including the other affected communities across the lower Volta Basin.
So far, in collaboration with NADMO, the VRA has provided relief items, such as canned food, rice, sugar, toiletries, boats, hot meals to the flood victims.
The Minority in Parliament is urging the government to take immediate action to address the needs of flood disaster victims by relocating them to the Saglemi housing project.
“We have Saglemi sitting idle, the government must ensure that they house the people of these 11 affected communities for this constituency properly. We are suggesting that as a matter of urgency, they can relocate them temporarily to the Saglemi Housing project,” the Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson said during a tour of the flooded communities on Friday (20 October).
President Nana Akufo-Addo has set up a committee to coordinate ongoing rescue efforts.
Ghana’s meteorological service has forecast more rains this year as the West African country experiences a marked increase in the frequency and unpredictability of weather events, amid warnings linked to climate change