House wants eleborate briefing on floods

Page 14, June 26, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho has directed the leadership of the House to liaise with the government to fix a date for the House to be briefed on the recent floods that occurred in various parts of the country.
He said a statement on the floor of Parliament should give an elaborate plan on what measures were being adopted to deal with the situation, which he described as “a national calamity”.
The directive was made due to two statements made on the heavy downpour experienced in the country last Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of a number of people and caused extensive damage to property.
The Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Mr David Tetteh Assumeng in the statement called for an inter-sectoral meeting to find a lasting solution to the problem.
He noted that that engineers should be brought on board while the Town and Country Planning Department and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) should be strengthened to enforce all legislation on building procedures.
“Madam Speaker, there is the need to free all water ways of illegal structures to avert future occurrences without politicisation,” he stressed and expressed his condolence to the bereaved families.
The Member of Parliament for Agona West, Mr Samuel Obodai also made a statement on the flood in his constituency, particularly Swedru.
He explained that in the constituency, particularly, Swedru and Agona Nyakrom, eleven lives were lost and that the entire Zabu Zongo Community became completely uninhabitable because almost all houses were submerged in the spill off from the banks of the Akora River.
“Madam Speaker, as I speak, there are scenes of collapsed buildings, fence walls, damaged roads and tilting electricity and telephone poles. The drains are choked with mangled wires. Culverts have been filled with debris and the smooth flow of water hampered,” he said.
He said homes and shops were flooded with water leading to the destuction of personal and vital documents.
Mr Obodai appealed to the government to speed up its action on the resettlement of the displaced.
Contributing to the statement, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban Bagbin said Swedru was now a sad scene and a shadow of itself.
He gave the assurance that the government had begun the process to rehabilitate Swedru to enable it regain its former status.’
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu called on the President to declare a state of emergency at Swedru and Ashaiman so that more resources could be sought to assist in the rehabilitation of the two areas.
The MP for Tamale North, Alhaji Abubakari Sumani called on the government to be committed to its plans to rehabilitate the two disaster areas.