Floods Hit Western Nzema

THE PRESIDENT of Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, in conjunction with the chiefs and people, have called on the government to as a matter of urgency find a lasting solution to the recent floods that have hit the area after continuous rainfall.

The floods wreaked great havoc in the Jomoro District of the Western Region, submerging many households at Nzulezo (a historic tourist village on stilts) and destroying property worth millions of cedis. It also displaced many people in Azuleti and rendered the Nvelenu-Ebonloa and Takinta-Adusuazo roads unmotorable.

One death was recorded at Bonyere while stagnant pools had led to the breed of mosquitoes and spread of malaria in Edobo, Atwebanso, Half Assini, Alomatuope, Tikobo No.1 and Beyin.

“The empathizers should stop playing politics with the plight of people in such distressed communities and genuinely mobilize resources to make critical interventions to bring relief to the flood-affected communities,” the chiefs emphasized this point.

In a press conference held in Takoradi last Friday and attended by a truck-load of people from the Jomoro District, led by Awulae Annor Adjaye and some prominent chiefs, queen mothers, opinion leaders from the traditional area, the people expressed the neglect by governments over the years to address the challenges posed by floods and their impact on infrastructural facilities.

According to Awulae Annor Adjaye, he and the District Chief Executive and had made a formal report about the plight of people displaced by the flood to the Regional Minister and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in Sekondi, but no aid had been received.

He added that though the Deputy Regional Minister had visited some of the flood affected areas, no assistance or arrangement for the displaced persons had been made and that only the traditional council had made some tentative arrangements towards the plight of such people.

“We plead with the authorities to stop recourse to palliative and crisis-management antidotes and quickly provide permanent solutions to the problems of displaced persons, loss of property and impassable road networks,” he stressed.

He pointed out that the situation kept worsening daily, so resources meant for flood victims should be properly coordinated, monitored and efficiently handled to enable those affected to benefit from it.

Awulae Adjaye said the unmotorable road network from Tikobo No. 1 through Beyin to Eikwe had made it impossible for sick people and pregnant women to access health care at Eikwe Catholic Hospital, the only well-equipped and effective health delivery facility in the area.

Nana Beleafe II, Queen mother of Nzulezo, said it was a pity that the government derived lots of revenue from the Nzulezo Tourist Site, as the only village in Ghana sitting on water, but had turned a blind eye to the majority of its people who had been displaced by the recent floods.

“Bringing government officials to assess the situation without any aid or concrete advice as to what to do is baseless. Many of us have no place to lay our heads and now reside in Beyin and Ahumasuazo, while our children cannot attend school,” she added.

The Queen mother of Western Nzema Traditional Council, Awulae Nda Bozoma II, who was visibly angry, said five years ago, when similar floods occurred in the Jomoro area, the government neither gave any relief items to the flood victims nor helped them rebuild their houses.

“I must be plain and blunt that if various governments will not recognize us as Ghanaians, especially in times of disaster or crisis but only need our votes during elections, then we better advise ourselves to probably naturalize as citizens of La Cote d'Ivoire,” she added.

From Sam Mark Essien, Takoradi