Member of parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is set to launch a mobile relief caravan to aid displaced residents following the Akosombo dam spillage.
According to him, the situation in affected communities, particularly his constituency is “still dire” because the water hasn’t receded. He further noted that the VRA spillage continues unabated and a lot more communities are being affected.
Mr Ablakwa revealed that his team had to evacuate few more communities in addition to the 23 earlier communities it had evacuated on October 15, 2023. He indicated that he along with his team were with the residents “last night at the Fodzoku basic school where we have our latest shelter, and there’s another shelter now at the Dorfor Adidome basic school”.
“Clearly, they are not okay because we are creating these makeshift camps, very rapidly. So, what we are doing this afternoon, I’m launching the MP’s mobile relief caravan. We have been able to mobilize quite a number of food items and other personal effects which we will be distributing to all these camps from 1pm today.
“We also observed last night that we will need a lot more tents and mosquito nets because you can expect that because these are open-aired camps, mosquitoes are having a field day, and we don’t want malaria to add to the already distressing situation.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablakwa stated that more shelters are being created and evacuations have had to be carried out because of the continuous spillage. He lamented that a number of communities are now cut off entirely.
“Yesterday, I could not use the Dwapong-Adidome road, the bridge has been submerged… So, technically, about half of my constituency has now been cut off because of the rising water levels. So, it’s a really critical situation and we would have to increase our interventions to support thousands of people who are now displaced, who have lost properties and there’s no schooling because most of our schools are now being used as shelters.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Furthermore, Mr Ablakwa highlighted that a lot of CHPS compounds have been submerged, as such, there’s lack of access to health delivery. Also, he underscored that a number of health workers are also now homeless and new accommodations are being scouted for nurses whose homes have been submerged.
“So, the situation is really dire, I wish I could have [said] things are getting better, but that’s not the case.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Providing relief items to affected communities
To address the problems caused by the spillage, the North Tongu legislator revealed that he has forged great partnership with the Ghana Medical Association. In light of this, he noted that the association will be carrying out medical outreaches on October 17, 2023, due to the looming danger of health crisis.
“The water has gotten into all kinds of places, so the water is contaminated and remember that that had been the source of [water for] cooking and some even drink. So, the fear is that those who continue to trust this water, we may have a cholera and typhoid outbreak soon.
“So, that’s another fear we have, so, we are collaborating with the medical association to see how we can carry out outreach, do communities sensitization, public education and see how we prevent that. But immediately, we need a lot more food, blankets, mosquito nets and medicines.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Moreover, Mr Ablakwa appealed to organizations and other stakeholders to donate more relief items, particularly to some of these senior citizens who have lost their medications.
He explained that even though they have reached out to some pharmaceutical companies and secured a few, “it’ll be great if we receive more medicines because a lot of vulnerable senior citizens and children have lost access to their medications”.
He emphasized that it’ll go a long way to keep the people alive.
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