By Elizabeth Yaa Brobbey, GNA
Accra, Nov. 14, GNA – Mr Kwame Gyimah
Akwafo, President of Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), has said his outfit with
support from Swiss Red Cross would be constructing one hundred 2-bedroom
housing units for affected flood victims in some parts of the Upper East
Region.
This, he said, would hopefully alleviate
their burden.
Mr Akwafo said the new structures would add
up to the previous one hundred 2-bedroom housing units constructed at the
Kologu-Zuo, Kologuo-Torand Doba in the Region.
He said the heavy rain that fell between 6th
and 12th October this year damaged many houses and rendered many homeless in
the region.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday,
Mr Akwafo said a joint assessment by the GRCS and the National Disaster
Management (NADMO) said 19 deaths were recorded and a total of 26,083 people
were affected and out of which 10, 890 were children.
He said the report calls for the urgent
delivery of items such as food, water, mattress, blankets, and beds which were
provided by the GRCS with the assistance of Swiss Red Cross to the affected
victims.
Mr Akwafo said the GRCS has over 65,200
volunteers, 50 staff and 10 regional offices across the country working
effectively to provide all the necessary support to the flood victims to
enhance their living condition.
“With regards to the floods in the Upper
East Region, GRCS has engaged 100 volunteers who are conducting health and
hygiene promotion effort and assist with data collection for assessment.
However, due to lack of adequate materials, it has not been able to provide an
additional support to the other affected communities” he said.
Mr Akwafo said the International Federation
of Red Cross Crescent Societies has also made contributions to support the
affected flood victims across the country.
He called on the public and all corporate
institutions to support the effort with relief items and funds to enable the
Red Cross to reach out to all affected families.
“The overall objectives of the operation is
to provide rapid life-saving support to 600 households completely displaced and
4333 and partially affected by floods focusing on shelter, wash and health interventions
through social mobilization and the distribution of food items,” he said.
GNA
