|
|
|
GHANA: Picking Up the Pieces After the Floods - Thursday, September 27, 2007 |
Francis Kokutse, ACCRA, Sep 26 (IPS) - "We prayed to God to open the heavens, but this is not what we expected," says Peter Nayoon, a farmer from Gushiegu in the north of Ghana, one of several African countries blighted by floods over recent weeks. "I am finished," he adds, pointing dejectedly towards the area that used to be his yam farm. "Who would give me money to start a new life?"
A very dry spell preceding the floods had affected the whole country, almost leading to the closure of the hydroelectric dam at Akosombo in the south-east; this facility is fed from the north by the Volta River.
Then, in late August, came the rains, deluging the Northern region and the Upper East and Upper West regions, also in the north.
The downpours obliged families which had been battling drought to deal with a different type of natural disaster, with many fleeing their homes. So far, about 250,000 people have been displaced, said Deputy Information Minister Frank Agyekum.
Joana Seini, a mother of two, found herself resorting to leaves to feed her children. "I gave my children leaves that I picked from the back of our damaged hut, and drank the muddy water that flowed past."
Alhassan Samari, the northern regional minister who took an assessment team around flood-damaged areas, said about 101 hectares of yam farms had been affected.
"In addition, 500 acres (about 202 hectares) of rice farms, 160 acres (about 65 hectares) of soya bean farms, 611 acres (about 247 hectares) of maize and 149 acres (about 60 hectares) of groundnut farms have been lost in the floods in the Saboba-Cheroponi district in the Northern region alone."
Still more farmlands in the Upper East and Upper West regions are said to have been claimed.
"So far it is estimated that 75,000 people (in Ghana) are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance including food, clothing, blankets, cooking utensils, canoes or boats, mosquito nets and water purification tablets," notes the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on its website.
Flooded areas were also toured by representatives of donor agencies. "The number of schools that have been destroyed showed that the children in the area would be severely affected," said Yasmin Ali Hague, the representative in Ghana of the United Nations Children's Fund.
She also expressed concern about the spread of waterborne diseases -- especially Guinea worm -- and called on government "to quickly address this problem before the disease starts."
In addition, noted Dan Ayugare of the Catholic Relief Services, "The broken bridges have so far affected the distribution of food aid."
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the floods in West Africa are amongst the worst in a decade, with some 500,000 people affected by downpours in 18 countries.
Flooding occurred across the continent, to East Africa. The WFP estimates that in all, about 1.5 million people have become flood victims in recent weeks.
The situation in Ghana was worsened by the plight of neighbouring Burkina Faso, said Agyekum. "The opening of the spillways of a dam by the Burkina Faso authorities...aggravated the situation (in Ghana)," he told IPS.
An official at the Burkinabé embassy in Ghana confirmed the release of water from the Bagre dam, adding "If this was not done, our dam was also facing threats of destruction."
However, added Agyekum, now was not the time to ascribe blame.
"Immediately, we are looking at the distribution of relief to the people in the short term. After that the concern of government is to take steps to re-engineer the three regions. The type of houses that you find there has to be re-designed."
He said changing climatic conditions the world over were also part of the problem: "It is an issue that the world has to tackle as it is affecting almost every part of the world now."
Southern Ghana depends on the north for more than water supplies to power the hydroelectric dam at Akosombo. The north also supplies a substantial amount of the south's food.
"The people in the northern part of the country have provided food for those living in the south all these years but have got nothing to show, as the food they produce is sold cheap. They (southerners) need to show they support to the plight of these people by providing more relief items," said Alhassan Andani, a teacher from Yendi, a town in the north.
|
| Copyright © 2004 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.http://ipsnews.net/africa/ |
|
|
