How long are my people going to live in schools? - Okudzeto fumes at govt

MP for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed his displeasure over the neglect of the flood victims by the government.

He bemoaned why the government has not made accommodation provisions for his people who have been affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage, seeing that most of them are residing in schools.

The North Tongu MP questioned why no efforts have been made to compensate the flood victims after they were displaced due to the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.

Speaking on the floor of parliament on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa expressed his worry over the lack of commitment by the government to announce a resettlement policy for the affected individuals.

“Mr. Speaker, I am also totally appalled that, in this entire statement, there has been no mention of resettlements. How long are my people going to live in schools? Look, the inhumanity, the indignity that people are suffering; are going through. 85-year-olds, 95-year-olds, we all have mothers, grandmothers.

“Those of us here, will we accept to live in a classroom even for two hours, for three hours? Why is it taking govt so long to announce a resettlement policy for those affected, whose houses have been destroyed to be resettled? There has been no mention of compensation,” he fumed.

The MP made these comments in response to an address by the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on updates from the Volta River Authority, and his ministry on the situation with regards the floods.

The Akosombo Dam spillage, which occurred on September 15, 2023, displaced more than 39,000 residents and destroyed properties worth millions of Ghana cedis.

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