General News of Thursday, 20 September 2018

Source: starrfmonline.com

Bagre Dam disaster: Oxfam condemns Akufo-Addo over victims neglect

Burkina Faso opens the dam yearly to manage the water level of the Bagre Dam Burkina Faso opens the dam yearly to manage the water level of the Bagre Dam

International nongovernmental organisation Oxfam has criticised President Akufo-Addo over his posturing towards victims of the Bagre Dam disaster.

So far, 18 people have died with 100 thousand displaced in the devastating spillage of the Bagre Dam.

Authorities of the National Disaster Management Organisation appear overwhelmed by the disaster.

Any high ranking government official is yet to visit the disaster zone to commiserate with the victims.

Speaking on the development, the Inequality Programmes and Campaigns Manager of Oxfam Zakaria Sulemana told Starr News the President has not shown care to the victims of the spillage.

“This matter requires the highest political attention. By now we should have heard the president, in fact, we should have seen the president visit the area to console them or better still initiate an action to ensure that this does not happen again.

“It will not be farfetched if the people who are affected make such conclusions that the president doesn’t care”.

Meanwhile, Security analyst Adam Bonah has called for the immediate declaration of a “state of emergency” in the three northern regions following the devastating twin occurrence of the spillage.

“This thing has been going on for how many weeks? The state of emergency should have been declared by now. ECOWAS should have been brought in because it has to with intra-Africa, where you have water spillage from a neighbouring country into another neighbouring country that has affected about 50, 000,” said Bonah on Morning Starr.

He told Francis Abban host of the Morning Starr that the response of the government in dealing with disaster is “disgusting.”