Displaced victims at Tefle appeal for safe drinking water
Displaced persons at Tefle, near Sogakope in the Central Tongu District in the Volta Region, have appealed for the supply of safe drinking water for the community following the contamination of the water sources as a result of the flooding occasioned by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.
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The residents, who presently make their water safe for use by boiling, fear a possible outbreak of waterborne diseases if they continue using the contaminated water.
The situation is dire, as there are currently 389 displaced victims, of which 208 are women, 50 are children (28 girls), 140 are men, and 12 are person with disabilities (PWDs).
Donation
They made the call when a businessman and the Chief Executive Officer of Tema-based Santa Shipping, Stephen Adjokatcher, donated bags of rice, canned fish, detergents, and oil to the victims in an effort mitigate their plight.
A tour of the affected areas by the Daily Graphic last Sunday revealed scenes of devastation, with 18 homes collapsed, some completely reduced to rubble and others with their roofs ripped off.
Residents of the affected homes have been forced to seek shelter with friends and relatives in other parts of the community.
Mr Adjokatcher, who was visibly moved by the plight of the victims, called on the government and the wider business community to help restore hope and dignity to the victims.
“I would like to encourage benevolent organisations to help these victims to rebuild their lives through the provision of opportunities skills training, particularly for those women who have lost livelihoods to help them become self-sufficient,” Mr Adjokatcher said.
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Victims
Some of the victims, who spoke to the Daily Graphic during a tour of parts of the affected areas at Tefle Newtown and Akporsorgbeto lamented the state they were in.
A fish farmer, Beatrice Fiagbor, whose home is still submerged, compelling her to move in with a neighbour, told the Daily Graphic that she now faced the daunting task of getting her life back.
Ms Fiagbor is among eight other women who have taken refuge in the small home of a neighbour whose house is on a higher ground.
The eight of them, she said, shared four pieces of student mattresses while the belongings they managed to salvage from the floods were placed in the limited spaces within their host’s rooms and compound.
The Secretary of the Tefle Disaster Relief Committee, Benjamin Amekudzi, who also doubles as the Assembly Member for the Tefle Electoral Area, highlighted the urgent need for additional relief items such as mattresses, charcoal, corn, cooking oil and sanitary pads for young girls.
He also noted that many of the displaced schoolchildren were forced to attend school in borrowed clothing, and walked barefooted to school because they lost their belongings in the floods.