The people of Adaklu-Dzakpo in the Adaklu District of the Volta Region have been held ‘hostage’ in their homes following a severe rainstorm that hit the area on Monday.
The severe rainstorm which started on Sunday had also destroyed the only wooden bridge that links Dzakpo to the adjoining Adaklu-Have community thereby cutting off Dzakpo from the rest of the district.
The flood also claimed vast farmlands in the area and caused extensive damage to crops.
In the wake of dwindling food stocks and the lack of access to healthcare, the people of Dzakpo are now living in great fear and anxiety.
The sick are left to their fate in the absence of a health facility in the community, while food stocks are dwindling.
Contrary to the recent claims by the Minister of Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson that Dzakpo had benefitted from a CHPS Compound following the disbursement of the ‘$ 1 million per Constituency’ scheme in the district, there is no such thing as a health facility whatsoever in the community.
“For the matter, the sick are now left to their fate as we pray for the flood which claimed the bridge to subside,” one resident told the Ghanaian Times from the opposite bank, on Monday.
Some natives of Dzakpo who travelled home at the weekend to attend funerals are now stranded.
“We have little food reserves at home and we cannot travel to Ho to buy anything we need and there is nowhere in this village where we buy medication for the sick,” said another resident.
As a result of the flood, there are no more taxi and ‘okada’ services between Ho and Dzakpo where cellular phone networks are poor.
Some people from the community who risked their lives on Monday and waded through the flood to the other bank in the hope of catching a vehicle to Ho were left stranded.
Some terrified residents appealed to the government to come to their aid as soon as possible, saying the situation demanded an emergency response.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, HO
