I am saddened by the pain I see in your eyes: Bawumia to flood victims

Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed his profound sympathy to victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage, which has displaced several households and livelihood in the Volta Region and some parts of Eastern and Greater Accra Regions.

The spillage displaced several communities in about eight districts and Bawumia on Wednesday (18 October) toured some of the affected communities in the Volta Region, as well as some holding centres providing temporary shelter for victims.

Addressing chiefs, community members and some of the evacuated, Bawumia could not hold back his sadness at the situation.

“”When I look into the eyes of our mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers who are seated here, I see so much sadness and pain. Their lives have been turned upside down as a result of what has happened,” Bawumia said.

“These are people who were going about their normal duties everyday to take care of themselves, but now they have to really depend on others for livelihood and I am saddened by that.

“In spite of the sad situation they find themselves in, Bawumia urged the victims to find solace in the Holy Book and thank God for the gift of life.

“We are told in the good Book that in all things, we should give thanks to God. Why are we thanking God in this situation? Because He has saved the lives of all those here. So far, we have not heard of the loss of life and life is more important.

“We thank God for their lives. In many situations, such disasters are accompanied by loss of lives and we thank God that everybody here is safe. With life, we can restore what we have lost,” the vice-president said.

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other government agencies, through the Inter Ministerial Committee set up by the government, has so far, swiftly responded to the disaster by evacuating affected people to about 20 holding centres, and also provided emergency relief items.

Bawumia gave the assurance that the government is not only committed to providing temporary solutions, but is also committed to providing relief to restore the livelihoods of those affected.

He said: “I want to assure that government will do everything possible to assist the affected people to provide relief and also restore the livelihoods of those affected.

“We are not only looking at temporary relief, we are also looking at a more sustained support through the Inter-ministerial Committee, so that those affected can restore their livelihoods.”

Bawumia commended NADMO for its proactiveness, which he said helped to avert what could have been a much graver disaster.

“I want to thank NADMO for their proactiveness. We could have had a major disaster in our hands without the proactiveness of NADMO, through the simulation exercise they conducted last year, when they did not even know this would happen.

“I also want to thank the army, the navy, VRA and all stakeholders for their collective efforts so far,” he said.

Places Dr Bawumia and his delegation visited included New Bakpa in the Central Tongu District, as well as Sogakope and Sokpoe, both in South Tongu District.

He was accompanied by the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Volta Regional Minister, Archibald Letsa, and officials of NADMO and the VRA.

Listen to Mahamudu Bawumia in the attached audio file:

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