Bolgatanga (U/E), Sept. 11, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday announced a 5-million-GH-Cedi (50 billion cedis) support for the three Northern Regions and parts of the Western Region hit by recent flooding.

Out of this 200,000 GH Cedis (Two Billion Cedis) would be used to procure emergency relief items for the victims.

President Kufuor was speaking to newsmen when he arrived in Bolgatanga to show support for the people affected by the floods and to see at first hand the havoc caused.

He declared the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions a disaster zone and promised that the Government would deliver to the Upper East by next week, 5,000 bags of cement; 500 bundles of roofing sheets; 2,000 bags of rice and assorted plastic wares among other items. President Kufuor directed the Regional Minister, Mr Alhassan Samari to be personally involved in the distribution of the items to ensure that they got to the real victims.

The floods led to eight deaths in the Upper East region, displaced 16,392 others and destroyed 4,500 houses.

Additionally, it devastated the road network, washing away a number of important bridges and submerged potable water supply systems. President Kufuor said the Government in response to the natural disaster had set up an Emergency Taskforce to plan contingencies to forestall future occurrences.

He said the adequate measures had already been taken to deal with the expected famine resulting from the flooding, adding that the Government would stand by them and do everything possible to mitigate their suffering.

Mr Samari informed President Kufuor that the situation in the Region was critical as the economic activities of the people, the roads, health and education sectors, all suffered serious battering by the floods.

He said economically important bridges including those linking Bawku-Kulungugu with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Garu and Manga were all washed away.