Thousands homeless in Ellembelle, Nzema East; MP to the rescue
Hundreds of residents of the coastal communities in the Ellembelle and Nzema East districts who were affected by high tidal waves have received relief items valued at GH¢100,000 from the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
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The items included 100 bags of rice, 100 bags of maize, 40 packets of roofing sheets, bales of treated mosquito nets, blankets and poly mats.
The rest are toilet soap and detergents, 60 boxes of cooking oil, plastic buckets and mattresses.
The items were handed over to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to be distributed to displaced members of the communities.
Hand over
At the presentation ceremony, Mr Buah, who is also the Minister of Petroleum, said the contribution of members of the affected communities to their immediate local economies and the nation could not be overlooked.
“I must say that we should all be thankful to Almighty God that the incident happened during the day when the community members were up and about their daily activities and conscious of their environment. If it had happened in the night, you could imagine the effect,” he said.
The items, he said, might not bring back what they had lost, but “they should provide support for you to be able to start again, while we work together to avert future occurrences”.
The Western Regional Coordinator of NADMO, Mr Japhet Baidoo, commended the MP for his timely support and that the assembly had the data on the people who were affected.
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The NADMO, he said, would have been overwhelmed by the situation had it not been for the support from the MP.
He urged other members of society who were well-resourced to support the organisation.
“We will make sure that all the items will be used to support the communities and the affected households,” he said.
Mr Buah later joined the district assembly and NADMO officials to distribute the items to the victims.
The communities
During the visit, the Daily Graphic observed that many residents of the affected communities had deserted their homes to stay with their family members and friends elsewhere.
The victims explained that their houses were far from the sea and, therefore, they had not anticipated what happened.
“We could not do anything; we saw the high tides heading home and all we did was to carry the children and the aged and run,” they said.
The devastation
The devastation stretched several kilometres along the coastline. About 500 housing units were destroyed, while hundreds of people were rendered homeless
At Ankobra, the entire community was submerged, while at Anlo Town all the canoes at the landing bay were swept into the sea by the high tides.
The same could be said of Asanda and Esiama. Women fish processors lost all their stock of smoked fish on the kilns at the time of the disaster.