The government yesterday activated a National Emergency Contact Centre to respond to calls from individuals and communities affected by the Akosombo dam spillage as part of the government relief efforts.
Affected persons who need urgent support including medical care are to dial 311 on all networks to enable personnel at the centre to dispatch the appropriate team to their location and address their concern.
The Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, announced this at a press conference held in Accra to update the public on the government’s relief efforts after the Akosombo dam spillage.
She said the centre was set up by the National Information Centre and the Access to Information Division of the Ministry of Information to provide prompt response to the needs of the affected persons.
According to her, the government’s response to the situation, now involving about 40,000 victims, was in three phases; evacuation and relocation to safety; provision of relief items and rehabilitation of the effected communities.
She said the inter-ministerial committee on the spillage; the Volta River Authority (VRA); the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other state agencies, were putting measures in place to ensure the affected persons have been relocated and relief received.
Ms Abubakar said the government was yet to draw a budget for the entire relief efforts or rehabilitation because an assessment to determine the extent of damage done needed to be done first after the flood level reduces.
In the meantime, she said some agencies had voted some monies to support relief efforts, including GH¢20 million from the VRA; GH¢5 million from Roads Ministry and $40 million dollar from the World Bank which the Agriculture Ministry intends to inject into rehabilitation of farms.
“He (The president) is aware that schools have to close down. He is aware that some farms have been lost. He is aware that some people have lost their fish ponds, and we are willing to commit everything to make sure we restore those properties that have been lost,” she said.
The VRA Deputy Chief Executive Director, Edward Obeng- Kenzo, said aside from food items and water supplied to the affected communities, new pumping stations and bore holes had been installed at the St. Kizito School and other areas, where many victims were seeking refuge.
He said electricity supply had been restored to the same school and other communities while a five-kilometre road had been constructed from Mepe to Battor to ease transportation between the two towns.
He said VRA Hospital department in conjunction with the Ghana Health Service had supplied almost GH¢1.5 million Ghana worth of medicine to the communities and they were helping with other health needs.
He said water tanks, 5, 000 solar lamps and 40 portable toilets had been provided in addition to other interventions had been made to ensure their immediate needs were addressed.
He thanked individuals and groups supporting the affected communities and gave an assurance that “as projected, we will be seeing an end to the situation that we have in the nearest possible time”.
A controlled spillage of excess inflows into the Akosombo and Kpong Hydro-electric dams which commenced on September 15, 2023 dams, resulted in flooding, and has since displaced many people and destroyed property in several communities within parts of the Volta, Greater Accra, and Eastern regions.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
