Bawku, (UE), Sept. 5, GNA- Flood victims in the Upper East Region are to receive relief items worth 1.1 billion cedis as the first line of official support.
Officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), who rushed the items to the victims, have expressed the hope that by Saturday 10 billion cedis of relief package would be made available. Mr. George Isaac Amoo, Co-ordinator of NADMO who accompanied Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama to tour some of the affected communities in the Region made this known to journalists.
He said the relief efforts had been hampered by the procurement Act, which slowed down the purchase of the relief items due to the processes involved.
Vice President Mahama led the technical team comprising, Ministers of State, officials from NADMO and Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) in an over eight hours comprehensive tour.
The areas included Bawku Municipality, Bawku West, Garu-Tempane, Talensi-Nabdam and Builsa districts.
Mr. Peter Dagadu, Director of GHA who accompanied the Vice President said the affected Tamne Bridge linking Garu to the rest of the region as well as Northern region would need a provisional amount of 415 million cedis.
The Kulungugu bridge linking Ghana to Burkina Faso would also need 250 million cedis to restore.
Mr. Moses Appiah Abaare, Bawku West District Chief Executive told Vice President Mahama that the district assembly had committed 200 million cedis in relief assistance to the victims, mostly farmers whose crops including sorghum and water melon had been destroyed. He said trees planted along the banks of the Volta River had been destroyed, while the affected farmers, many of whom had secured loans from the commercial banks for the farming season, were in a state of confusion.
Mr. Abaare said the floods were so severe that some victims who took refuge on trees had to be rescued by boats.
So far more than 40,000 people have been affected in the region while Bawku West alone has recorded more than 4000 victims. An estimated 689 houses have collapsed in the area with three fatalities, whilst 6,902 people have been totally displaced.
Mr. Alhassan Samari, Regional Minister said the Regional Co-ordinating Council could not handle the situation alone, hence the need for external support.
Vice President Mahama said a high-powered team comprising Ministers and the security agencies had been constituted to tackle the Upper East flood situation.
"Government means business and that is why we have to see things for ourselves. I have also brought you hope," he said. Along the Tamale-Bolgatanga road, one could see the devastating effect of the disaster on human settlements and farms.
In the Talensi-Nabdam district, the bridge linking Bolgatanga and its environs was filled to the brim while electricity pylons at Nasia in the Northern Region had been submerged in water. Vice President Mahama is scheduled to visit the Tono Irrigation Project also affected by the torrential rains Wednesday morning, as well as Tolong-Kumbungu and Buipe in the Northern Region, where a number of people have been affected by the rising levels of tributaries of the Volta River that feed the Akosombo hydro-electric dam.