The Volta River Authority (VRA), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), has presented relief items to the residents of the Mepe community, who has been affected by the ongoing spilling of water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams. The items, which included mattresses, blankets, various food items, and toiletries, were presented by Mr Ken Arthur, the Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Services of the VRA to the Deputy Director-General of NADMO Mr Seji Sadji in line with the VRA’s efforts to ease the suffering of residents in the community. Whilst monitoring the spill situation that has affected some communities in the lower Volta Basin, the Authority decided to provide essential relief items to help mitigate the difficulties being faced by the communities that were heavily impacted due to as the spillage. Receiving the items, The Deputy Director General of NADMO, Mr. Sedji Sadji said the items would go a long way to supporting the affected residents meet their daily needs. He said the officials were doing their rapid assessments of the needs and appealed to other organisations to support the relief efforts to address the challenges of the increasing number of the affected persons. ‘To the best of our abilities we are doing everything possible to make sure that the affected persons were actually taken care of,’ he said, adding that the challenge was reaching affected persons who had gone to stay with their families. He said steps were underway around public health, especially water and sanitation, to prevent the outbreak of diseases, adding that water was the most critically needed commodity for residents. The VRA commenced the controlled spillage on September 15, 2023, due to a consistent rise in the inflow pattern and water level of the Akosombo reservoir. In line with its emergency preparedness plan and standard operating procedures, the authority notified its stakeholders, including the downstream communities. The Authority reiterated its continued wish to work with NADMO and other stakeholders to monitor the situation and provide regular updates to the public.
Source: Ghana News Agency