MDA relocates 400 flood victims to pave way for teaching, learning
The Mepe Development Association (MDA) has relocated over 400 displaced persons from various safe havens, including the St Kizito Senior Technical School.
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The move is to make way for the resumption of schools in the Mepe Traditional Area, the epicentre of the Akosombo Dam flood disaster.
The displaced persons, most of whose homes were destroyed by the flood, have been moved to Mepe-Degorme JHS and other accommodation facilities provided by an indigene of the community, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Hlordzi Dodzi.
A statement issued by the association, quoted its Chairman, Mawulenu Kojo Fabian, as saying that the exemplary show of leadership by the association saved the St Kizito School from collapsing and also the disruption of the academic calendar.
Stakeholder engagement
Following a resolution by the community members, traditional leaders and other interest groups at a stakeholder’s forum organised by the MDA to address some fallouts of the flood disaster on businesses, housing, health and education, among others, the MDA set up a five-member Relocation Committee to recommend the way forward on the resumption of schools.
The statement said the committee’s work spanned the six havens that were occupied by displaced persons during the height of the disaster.
They are the St Kizito Senior High Technical School, the Holy Christ D. A. School, the Mepe Presby Primary, the D. A. JHS, and the Mepe Roman Catholic Primary and Junior High Schools.
The Relocation Committee recommended, among other things, the renovation of Mepe-Degorme JHS, an abandoned school block, for the relocation of the displaced persons to make way for the reopening of St Kizito and other basic schools for the resumption of academic activities, it added.
Communal labour
In support of the committee’s work, the MDA organised communal labour with the participation of the chiefs and people of the community to clear weeds around the designated facilities to pave the way for the renovation works to be completed in time, the statement added.
“The Mepe Development Association engaged contractors to do electrical, masonry, plumbing, carpentry and painting works, among others, and completed in record time the renovation of Degorme JHS at a huge cost,” Mr Fabian said.
“We also provided the logistical support in moving all the displaced persons to the new facilities.
We did all these without any support from the state nor its allied institutions,” the chairman of MDA added.
Visits
Mr Fabian commended the United States government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and UNICEF for their kind support.
USAID and UNICEF, through the Akosombo Safe Activity, are providing essential school supplies and tents for temporary school structures, among others, at $500,000 to aid teaching and learning for children in communities affected by the flood.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, and the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, last month visited the Mepe-Degorme JHS safe haven to meet the displaced persons and other stakeholders to discuss avenues of supporting the affected communities.
Context
The MDA is the traditional administrative organ of Mepe in the North Tongu District in the Volta Region in charge of social and development issues.
The MDA, together with the Mepe Traditional Council, works with state and non-state actors to engineer the development of the traditional area with a population of over 16,000.
The MDA was established in 1955 by the Mepe Traditional Council and has worked with all governments since its formation.