Dam Spillage: National Emergency Contact Centre Established
The government has instituted a National Emergency Contact Centre to provide prompt response to the needs of victims of the Akosombo and Kpong flood spillage exercise.
The contact centre was rolled out on Tuesday, October 24 by the National Information Centre and the Access to Information Division of the Ministry of Information.
According to the Ministry, victims in need of any relief are to contact 311 on all networks to have items supplied to them at their locations.
The centre was officially announced by the Deputy Minister for Information, Fatimatu Abubakar on Tuesday during a presser.
The Volta River Authority (VRA), regulators of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams in the Volta Region, began a spillage exercise on September 15 to save the dams from destruction by the rising water levels.
The move has rendered parts of the Volta Region, Eastern and Greater Accra regions submerged under water. Nine districts are known to have been severely affected by the event.
The situation has left thousands homeless and bereft of their livelihoods. Education in the worst-hit areas has been brought to a halt as some schools have been turned into temporary shelters for the displaced.
Relief items such as water, food, blankets, mosquito nets, etc have become critical for the survival of the victims as they occupy their temporary shelters.
The VRA on Tuesday said some GHC9 million had so far been spent in the provision of relief to the victims. The amount, the Authority said, was part of GH¢ 20 million earmarked to provide relief to the victims.
The destruction by the flood runs into billions of cedis. It is not known if the government will compensate the victims for their losses, however, the government has announced an amount of $40m will be disbursed to farmers affected by the spillage.
