Two communities, Duta and Agbawoeme, have been hit by floods from torrential rains over the weekend, leading to loss of property and displacement of hundreds of people.
The two adjoining communities are close to Diamond Cement at Aflao in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.
Property lost to the floods run into tens of thousands of Ghana cedis forcing residents to relocate to family members in nearby communities.
Sylvia Awuye Akpavor, a media practitioner, who lives close to the affected communities, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the situation was alarming as it has affected the residents’ daily activities.
Akpavor said, “I have personally visited Duta and Agbawoeme. When you go there now, the situation is very bad. Buildings have collapsed and the people have lost their belongings: clothing, cooking utensils, furniture. Even school children have had their uniforms, school bags and books swept away by the floods.”
Possible cause
The assembly member for Duta electoral area, Gabriel Ayitey, attributed the flooding to the spillage of a dam constructed by Diamond Cement. It overflowed and spilled over into the communities.
He said, “This is not the first time we have experienced this flooding. It occurs every rainy season, but this year’s is just too much. We haven’t witnessed anything like this before. It’s a spillover from the Diamond Cement dam which opens into the communities.”
The assembly member called on the management of the factory to take immediate action to redirect the drainage channel to forestall further destruction to property and livelihoods.
Victims of the disaster, Dabla Moise, Dziwornu Komla Song and Dabla Enoa, took turns to pour out their frustrations to the GNA. They called on the Ketu South directorate of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to come to their aid.
The municipal co-ordinator of NADMO, Torgbi Alossode Eve Agadzi II, told the GNA that his outfit has been informed about the incident. The outfit is assessing the situation to find out what interim support can be offered the victims.
The co-ordinator said, “NADMO has been informed about this development. My team and the municipal chief executive, Maxwell Kofi Lugudor, visited the affected communities to assess the situation and to see how best the municipality can offer some interim assistance to the victims whiles we work to find a permanent solution to the problem.”
Meanwhile, Tati Rama Rao, the general manager of Diamond Cement Company, refuted claims by the residents that the flooding was due to the spillage of the company’s drainage system.
He told the GNA that management of the company was informed about the unfortunate incident but attributing the floods to the spillage of the drainage system is far from the truth.
Rao said the communities are located in a naturally swampy and low-lying enclave. This contributes largely to flooding after a heavy downpour.
He added that the river that passes through the said dam to the communities has its source from Togo and has nothing to do with the activities of the factory.
He stated that the factory is ready to cooperate with other stakeholders to find a permanent solution to the problem.
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