Vice-President donates to flood victims in North East Region

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has presented GH¢100,000 and quantities of relief items to victims of last Thursday’s flood that displaced many people in the West Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region.

The items included bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, maize, tins of milk and beverages, mattresses and mosquito repellent.

Dr Bawumia also toured the affected communities to assess the extent of damage and to empathise with the victims, who had been temporarily sheltered at various camps.

Presenting the items to the victims at Walewale yesterday, Dr Bawumia said the donation was an immediate intervention to mitigate the plight of the victims as government continued to mobilise resources to improve their situation.

He described the incident as the worst disaster that had befallen the people of the region, adding that he had suspended all political activities to see for himself and provide them with emergency relief items.

"I have asked that the money that has been added should be used to buy additional 500 bags of maize and other food items for the victims," he said.

Rebuilding

Dr Bawumia expressed the government's commitment to support the victims to rebuild their houses when the flood receded.

The Chief Executive of West Mamprusi Municipality, Mr Aremeyaw Somo, received the donation on behalf of the victims, and commended the Vice-President for the gesture and gave an assurance that his outfit would make sure that the items were disbursed to the victims as soon as possible.

Disaster

At least six communities in the West Mamprusi municipality were entirely submerged, with about 1,000 residents displaced by floodwaters following a downpour in the early hours of last Thursday.

The incident claimed the life of a three-year-old boy, who fell into a pit during the flooding at Gbani.

According to disaster managers, about 58 houses collapsed after the downpour that lasted about six hours and caused some dams to break their banks.

The affected communities include Diani, Dimia, Tinkaya, Banawa, Gaagbini and Naamiyala.

The bridge that links Dimia and Tinkaya communities on the Walewale-Nalerigu road was also flooded to the waist level, causing a heavy vehicular traffic on the road.

Residents of Walewale were cut off from Nalerigu, the regional capital, while passengers travelling to Nalerigu and Bunkpurugu from Tamale and Walewale remained stranded.

Moments after the incident, officials of the North East Regional Directorate of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) rushed to the scene to rescue those who were trapped in the affected communities and also to take stock of the damage caused by the flood.

Background

Floodwaters continue to wreak havoc in the North East Region following weeks of torrential rain and the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso.

At least six persons have lost their lives in the disaster, while hundreds have been displaced by the floods.