By Solomon Gumah
Buipe (S/R), Nov 02, GNA – The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Flooding, led by the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has visited Buipe in the Savannah Region to commiserate with flood victims in the area.
The Committee, as part of the visit, presented assorted drinks, clothes, foodstuffs, cooking oil, mattresses, water, hygiene, and dignity kits to the victims, who are now camping at the Roman Catholic Primary and Junior High Schools at Buipe.
Other members of the Committee, who visited the area included Mr Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Francis Asenso Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah, Minister for Roads and Highways, Fatimatu Abubakar, Deputy Minister for Information, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, and Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The overflow of the Black Volta led to the floods at Buipe Central Gonja District, and other communities in North Gonja, West Gonja and East Gonja Districts in the Savannah Region with Buipe being worst affected.
The National Disaster Management Organisation in the region reported that about 400 houses were submerged, 987 households were affected, 3,659 residents were displaced, four schools were closed, five poultry farms were affected destroying over 1,000 birds, 1,600 ruminants were carried away and 1,560 farmlands affected.
Madam Osei-Opare said the government, through the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Red Cross Society, provided shelter kits for about 104 households to ameliorate their plight.
She assured residents of the government’s commitment to ensuring that all victims would receive the needed support to minimise the impact of the disaster on the affected communities.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye said the situation at Buipe would take a long while to manage and appealed to various organisations to collaborate with the government to avert any outbreak of water-borne diseases in the area.
GNA