Disaster Victims in Bongo Receive Relief Items

By Peter Atogewe Wedam

Some 15 rainstorm victims from different communities in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region have received assorted relief items, estimated at the cost of 7,100.00 Ghana Cedis, from the District Directorate of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).

The beneficiaries included both individuals and institutions such as the Soe Senior High School and Sabliga, and Apuwongo Primary Schools.

Presenting the items, Mr Clement Akongo, Bongo District Director of NADMO, disclosed that each victim was to receive a package comprising a packet of roofing sheets, a mattress, a plastic bucket, insecticide-treated mosquito net, used clothing and some bags of cement.

Mr Akongo said the items were to help mitigate the immediate sufferings of the victims, adding that although the items might not be enough to satisfy the needs of the victims, they were the best efforts NADMO could make in the interim and that additional efforts could be made to solicit more support from government and other willing philanthropists.

Mr Peter Ayinbisa Ayamga, Bongo District Chief Executive (DCE), who presented the items on behalf of NADMO, noted that the victims were citizens who suffered from a devastating rainstorm on May 29, 2017 as well as from other rainstorms, this year.

He explained that it took that long to make the presentation because the NADMO office in the district had not received relief items for the past six years and that, he said, made it impossible for the directorate to respond effectively to victims of disasters.

The DCE warned the victims against sale of the relief items, noting that, such an act would amount to a total waste of government's efforts in supporting them during this critical time in their lives.

Mr Ayamga noted that the Bongo District was situated within a storm belt and that for the past few years, communities such as Awiisi, Sooboko and Namoo, among others, often became the hardest hit in the event of any storms.

He was, however, happy that there was no single loss of life in the separate incidents.

The DCE advised people in communities within the storm belt to use re-enforced materials in building their houses and to engage the services of professional masons and carpenters for their housing projects.

On behalf of other recipients, Mr Daniel Awunga, Headmaster, Suo Senior High School, thanked the Assembly and NADMO for the support.

Mr Awunga said the gesture would go a long way to alleviate their plight and pledged to take precautionary measures to forestall future occurrences.

He received packs of roofing sheets for the re-roofing the school's two classrooms that got damaged in the storms.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the event, the DCE formally presented a brand new Nissan pick-up vehicle to the District Department of Agriculture to help in the effective implementation of the government's flagship agricultural intervention, the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.

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