Member of Parliament for Ho West, Emmanuel Bedzrah, has strongly urged the government to categorize the floods resulting from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams spillage as a national disaster.
He stressed the necessity for the government to initiate the evacuation of residents in the affected regions, in addition to implementing various preventive measures, all aimed at averting potential loss of life.
“Mr. President, people’s homes are under water in the Lower Volta areas as a result of the spillage at Akosombo. Kindly treat this disaster as a national security issue and order for the evacuation of the people to safe grounds while providing them with essentials like food and water, at least, in the interim”, he stated in a social media post.
He further indicated that “my experience with the people yesterday tells me it is a humanitarian situation that cannot be handled by any individual but central government. Let the nation Ghana wake up to the realities of what is happening.
“We shall engage in the usual politics and ethnocentric diatribes after we save the lives of these people. Watching in aloofness only reveals that our branded hospitable nature is all a façade.
“Extending condolences and felicitations to people in war-torn countries in Europe and the Middle East is a nice thing to do, but what we do at home in times of disasters such as this tells a fuller story.”
While visiting the impacted communities, he observed a distressing situation where some individuals find themselves trapped in their homes, facing the grim choice of either succumbing to hunger or risking drowning, as they lack the means to reach safer areas.
He further pointed out that many among them are in urgent need of essential provisions like sanitary towels, food, and clean water, as they anxiously await evacuation to safer grounds, with the hope of averting any loss of life.
Mr. Bedzrah additionally proposed a collaborative stakeholder approach and the reconfiguration of the Volta project, originally set in motion by Ghana’s first president, the late Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. This reconfiguration is seen as a measure to proactively prevent similar disasters in the future.
“A man-made lake like the Volta Lake should have projects that benefit directly from events such as we are experiencing now through proper engineering and not man-made disasters in the 21st century”, he said.
Now, houses in over 100 communities in the South, North, and Central Tongu, Keta, and Anlo Districts have been submerged in the floods, with some at roof levels.