Prez Orders Release Of More Relief Items For Flood Zone

President Mills being ferried on a boat to one of the affected communitiesPresident John Evans Atta Mills has directed the Ghana Buffer Stock Company to release 2,000 bags of rice, 2,000 bags of maize and other relief items to more than 3,000 flood victims.

He gave the directive yesterday after he had toured flood areas in the Atiwa and Fanteakwa districts in the Eastern Region which have been devastated by floods caused by days of torrential rains.

The visit took the President to towns such as Akim Oda, Kwabeng, Kade and Akrofufu.

He was accompanied by government officials, including the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; the Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Kwasi Appea-Kubi; the Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu; the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mr Kobby Acheampong, and the National Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kofi Portuphy.

About 10 hours of torrential rain in the Atiwa and Fanteakwa districts left five people dead and 105 farmers stranded on their farms.

The deceased were identified as Kofi Ayim, 60, from Akyem Asunafo; Kofi Ofemeni, 36, Akyem Ankaase; Kwabena Bedu, 53, Abomosu; Kwame Donkor, 52, Akrofufu, and Kwame Daniel, 40, also from Akrofufu.

The rain, which caused the River Sea in the area to overflow its banks, flooded other streams and rivers such as the River Birim.

The flood waters also blocked access roads, including the Anyinam-Nkawkaw portion of the Accra-Kumasi highway.

The Atiwa District, with Kwabeng as the capital, is one of the 17 districts in the Eastern Region and located in the north-western part of the region.

The district was carved out of the East Akim municipality by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1784 of February 20, 2004 in pursuance of the government’s decentralisation policy.

Fanteakwa lies within longitudes 0° 32.5’ West and 0° 10’ East and latitudes 6° 15’ North and 6° 40’ North. Begoro is the district capital, with an estimated population of 23,070 (18,200 in 1984), while the total district population stands at 103,711 (1997) .

It is bounded to the north by the Volta Lake, to the north-west by the Kwahu-South District, south-west by the East Akim municipality, the Lower Manya Krobo District to the east and to the south east by the Yilo Krobo District. It is located exactly in the middle of the Eastern Region.

With a total land area of 1150 sq.km, the Fanteakwa District occupies 7.68 per cent of the land area of the region (18310 sq.km) and constitutes 0.48 per cent of the land area in Ghana.

Interacting with some of the flood victims and commiserating with bereaved families, President Mills attributed the floods partly to the activities of galamsey operators and underscored the need for a concerted effort to fight the menace.

He said the consequences of the floods could have been avoided had it not been for the extensive environmental degradation resulting from galamsey operations in the area.

The President said there was no political coloration to issues when it came to issues such as fighting the menace of galamsey operations and the effect on the environment.

He said the government would continue to show concern to the flood victims and tackle head-on problems such as galamsey which were partly responsible for floods.

President Mills lauded the rescue efforts by the 48 Regiment of the Ghana Army and used the occasion to defend the purchase of five new aircraft for the military.

He wondered why almost all important national issues were given political twists and coloration, saying the five aircraft were not meant for the comfort of the Presidency.

Meanwhile, several days of rainfall in the Volta Region have caused flooding in parts of the Keta municipality, reports Victor Kwawukume.

The flood waters have cut off road links to some of the communities within the municipality.

Some of the affected areas are the Akatsi, Adaklu-Anyigbe and South Tongu districts which share boundary but have currently been cut off from one another, making it impossible for schoolchildren in the area to attend school.

But the Keta municipality appeared to have suffered most.

At the time of filing this report, the Shime area, comprising communities such as Agortoe, Tregui, Blamezado and Adutor, had been inundated by floods, destroying many farms in the area.

The Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Sylvester Tornyeava, was apprehensive that the worst was yet to happen.

“We are expecting a much worse situation from now, considering the volume of water that River Tordze is still discharging into the Avu Lagoon,” he said.

When contacted, the Volta Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Henry Ametefee, said the situation was so serious that it had gone beyond the ability of the regional office and that his office was contacting the head office for assistance.