Joyce Bawah Mogtari, special aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, has called on government to extend the sea defence along the coastal communities in the Volta Region which suffered massive impact following the tidal storm last Sunday.

According to her, simply relocating the affected persons to a higher and safer topography would not have the desired result since the Volta Region is surrounded by the coast. Mrs Mogtari indicated that there must be proper support and education on best practices with regards to human behaviour to avert a reoccurrence of the tidal wave confronting the country.

“So, relocating is one thing, where are you relocating them to? Because along the whole of the Volta really is a whole coastal environment, so relocating from point A will just take you to point B. I think, for now, what we need to do is first and foremost ensure that we are protecting human lives. I think that the sea defence should be extended, like former President Rawlings spoke about and then we should take it from there”.
Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari

The Special aide asserted that she reckons the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) is currently facing some “serious financial constraints” and is telling in their handling of the matter.

“I have seen NADMO in the past and I have seen their response teams and the level of their response. I think this one has largely been muted because if you even listen to the Member of Parliament and even the Chief who spoke, if they have received even a visit by some high-level government delegation, even that would have given them a certain modicum of comfort. But it seems there is a certain dereliction of duty under the circumstances”.
Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari

Following this, Mrs Mogtari stated that if government had cut down on some of the wasteful spending in the country, government would have come up with the $600 million needed to complete the construction of the sea defence levee in the affected communities in the Volta Region.

State of emergency in Volta Region

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Keta, Kwame Gakpey, has expressed disappointment over government’s poor handling of issues arising from the devastation caused by the tidal wave in Keta.

Addressing the media in Parliament, he noted that government must expedite action and declare a state of emergency in areas most devastated by the tidal storm.

Buttressing his thoughts on the position of government, Mr Gakpey indicated that President Akufo-Addo will be “travelling to Cape Verde” to go and witness presidential swearing-in when the “people of Keta at the coast are devastated”. He explained that instead of the government to take prompt action, they are going to “climax ceremony when people are dying”.

“State of Emergency in Keta, Ketu South and Anlo should be declared but here we are today. The relief item is supposed to be prompt and swift, nothing is happening. We are raising this germane issue and then you say that this has been happening long ago”.
Mr Kwame Gakpey