The Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Tongu constituency, Hon. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze has indicated that disaster relief response to the flooding situation along the Lake Volta must move into another stage of livelihood restoration and resettlement due to the destruction of properties and disruption of economic activities in the affected areas.
He said this at the forecourt of the District Assembly office in Adidome, during a visit by a delegation of IJM Ghana to commiserate with the affected people and leaders of Central Tongu District.
Led by IJM Ghana Country Director, Anita Budu, the team’s visit was also to donate relief items to affected areas in the district identified by the district’s Department of Social Welfare.
Speaking in the company of the DCE of Central Tongu, Hon. Thomas Moore Zonyrah, the Central Tongu MP expressed appreciation to the IJM team and went on to reckon that the disaster response is moving into another stage where the focus would be on livelihood restoration and resettlement.
He remarked, “You know a lot of people have lost their buildings, they are broken, they have collapsed all over, and those that are even there and are in the river will automatically have integrity problems.”
The MP made this remark on the back of admonishing district DSW and NADMO officers to ration supplies in all the five district holding centres, as the road to recovery was a long one.
Hon. Hottordze further stated that, “It’s a big task…because very soon they will be asked to bring their children to school. Nobody will say that ‘look, these people were flooded so they shouldn’t pay their children’s school fees.”
The member of the Health Committee of Parliament continued that, “Very soon they’ll be asked to pay examination fees, where will they get it because their livelihoods are lost. So, we must be moving to another level. So with the food stuff, whatever comes, lets ration it so that it would take them for some time.”
To see the impact first hand, the MP and DCE sent off the visitors to visit a holding centre, distribute some items there and visit Awadiwoekome island where all the inhabitants had been evacuated and accommodated in holding centres across the district.
Pulse
