The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu in the Volta Region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has appealed to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) for support to provide the flood victims with permanent housing.
He said though they had begun construction on a few houses and had delivered the first 300, and the second project was also almost complete, the number of impacted individuals was enormous and additional homes were needed to accommodate them.
“We are really in need of assistance. We have seen some of the beautiful shelters you have provided in other jurisdictions, and we want to appeal to you, the IFRC, to get us some of those shelters because very soon the rain will be upon us and these tents cannot survive that,” he said.
Mr Ablakwa made the appeal when the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), with support from the IFRC presented some relief supplies, which included hygiene and dignity kits, jerrycans, blankets and treated mosquito nets to the affected persons at Mepe.
The MP stated that single mothers and children were given priority during the first housing project and the second project would provide care for the aged and the physically challenged, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 600.
However, he said, there were 12, 633 displaced individuals in the area, according to data from the Disaster Management Organisation, and only 600 of those victims would receive homes from the two projects, leaving many people in need of assistance.
Mr Ablakwa expressed his gratitude to the Ghana Red Cross Society and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent for the donation and their continuous support to, and interest in the welfare of the flood-affected persons.
He said the supplies were of utmost importance because, as part of their medical outreach with the Ghana Medical Association, they had asked that the sanitation conditions be improved because they were beginning to detect cases of typhoid and cholera.
Mr Ablakwa disclosed that the GRCS was on the ground helping with the evacuation process and providing tents to help with the victims’ relocation during the first week of the tragedy, when the flood was at its worst.
The MP said without those initial efforts and tents, “we don’t know how we would have survived the rushing floods which were devastating at that time.”
Mr Lawrence Lutaaya, IFRC’s Operations Manager-Surge told Ghana News Agency that the affected individuals would also receive financial support to start businesses to improve their standard of living.
He noted that one of the Federation’s duties was to respond to disasters, so when the GRCS notified them of the difficulties facing the people, they promptly made the appropriate preparations to assist.
Mr Lutaaya urged everyone to take the necessary precautions to protect the environment and to abstain from actions that could have a detrimental influence on it to prevent disasters. He asked the media to keep bringing attention to the needs of the vulnerable to get organisations and individuals to respond to them.
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