By Prince Acquah, GNA
Cape Coast, June 22, GNA – Eighteen people have died in 58 building collapse incidents recorded across the Central Region following heavy downpours that began on Friday.
The incidents, triggered by flooding, landslides, mudslides and falling trees, have affected 337 people across 15 districts in the region owing to the intensity of the rains.
Affected areas include Cape Coast Metro, Gomoa Central Upper Denkyira East, Upper Denkyira West, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem.
Among the incidents recorded in Cape Coast are the deaths of a 20-month-old baby on Friday, as well as a three-year-old boy and a 22-year-old nursing school graduate undertaking her National Service on Saturday.
On Sunday, a 42-year-old lady and a 13-year-old girl were also killed in a similar tragedy and their bodies are currently at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital morgue.
Mr Emmanuel Kwesi Dawood, the Central Director of NADMO, presenting a situational update on the incidents, attributed the flooding in Cape Coast largely to human activities that had blocked most water channels in the capital.
He noted that almost all water inlets in the Cape Coast Metro had either been encroached upon by developers or blocked by refuse dumps, citing developments in areas such as Black Star, Amin Sangari, Flowers Gay and parts of North OLA.
“Unfortunately, we have some persons or developers, for their short-term economic interest, who have decided to encroach the lagoon, put up structures to set up hostels for the students here and there, thereby blocking the free flow of water into those areas.
He said: “So, these lagoons, the Iture Lagoon and Fosu Lagoon, are considered natural water receptacles whenever we have extreme overflows as a result of rainfalls and other issues.
“Almost all the water receptacles have been encroached upon with a host of buildings here.”
Mr Dawood noted that as part of its preparedness and contingency plans, the NADMO had identified several weak buildings and earmarked them demolition.
However, the occupants and owners of the affected buildings requested additional time to vacate the premises, but they failed to do so.
Consequently, the NADMO has issued a 14-day ultimatum to such persons to vacate the buildings after which they would embark on a forced demolition.
The Regional Director of NADMO indicated that inadequate funding was hampering the operations of the NADMO offices in many districts, limiting their ability to undertake critical activities such as desilting drains, dredging waterways, and carrying out other disaster prevention measures.
He therefore appealed to the various Assemblies to provide more funding and resources to enable them to undertake their activities effectively, stressing the need for disaster prevention rather than disaster response.
Meanwhile some affected residents who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) appealed to the NADMO and city officials for support.
Madam Theresa Quaicoo, a resident of Kru Town, indicated that part of their building hosting about 10 households collapsed around 1000 hours on Saturday, which prompted them to pack out of the premises immediately even though there were no casualties.
She said some of the affected residents had been forced to seek temporary shelter with friends and relatives, while others had nowhere to go.
She said: “We are moving out because we do not know what might happen next. This is a mud house, and the rains have not stopped.
“We are appealing to the authorities to come to our aid and help us find a safe place to keep our belongings and shelter our families.”.
Mr Kwabena Ebo, another victim, said their building collapsed barely an hour after the landlord had met tenants to discuss the state of the structure.
He said he did not lose any belonging to the disaster, but he had been left stranded with no place to sleep, calling for support from the authorities.
“Some officials have been here to assess the situation, and they have promised to come back with a response,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Prince Acquah
E-mail: [email protected]