Tamale (NR), Oct. 11, GNA - About 1,000 kilometres of feeder roads in the Northern Region lost to the floods may result in more communities being cut off or marooned if these roads are not fixed before the next rainy season.

Some 600 boreholes and dugout wells, which are sources of drinking water in the region, have also been lost to the floods.

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, speaking to journalists from the Ghana Chapter of the African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN) in Tamale on Wednesday said the Region was bracing itself for possible outbreak of water borne diseases because household toilets had collapsed along with homes, which may facilitate the spread of diseases.

The Minister said the Community Water and Sanitation Agency and other stakeholders were working hard to contain the situation. He said various measures were being adopted including the prospecting for new wells.

Alhaji Idris said by next week when the nutrition and health teams assisting in solving the crisis brought on by the floods met to review the situation, it was hoped that it would be possible to declare the Region to be out of a state of emergency.

He said this would mean that support from outside would be minimized and the local inhabitants would have to begin work to support the reconstruction process.

The journalists from AMMREN are in the region to asses the health status of the people, with particular attention to malaria cases to enable them to report accurately on the health situation on the ground. The trip is sponsored by the Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance, an African-led institution overseeing a research into malaria vaccines on the continent.