By Laudia Sawer
Tema, May 20, GNA – At the banks of the Sakumo Ramsar Site at Tema Community Five, popularly known as Church Village, a heart-wrenching scene is seen in various flood-affected structures.
Dirty brown water has inundated the entire floor, submerging the base of furniture, including beds, chairs, and other items, while clothes are piled on furniture in a desperate attempt to keep them dry.
This is not only seen at the Church Village but also at other places such as parts of Adjei-Kojo, Lashibi, Railways, Klagon, and Baatsonaa, which revealed a similar setting conveying distress and displacement, bringing to the fore the harsh reality many residents face after heavy rains, just like what occurred on Sunday.
This and other scenes of inundated communities became known when officials of the Tema West Municipal Assembly (TWMA), led by Mr Ludwig Teye Totimeh, the municipal chief executive, on Monday visited the flooded areas.
Ms Mary Borketey, an affected resident, lamented that they were really going through a lot. “We have not reached the rainy season itself yet but see what is happening. No place to sleep; we must use stones to chock our beds till today.”
She added that the water during the rains reached their knee level and destroyed everything, stressing that “we can’t use our electric gadgets; the hall and the bedroom are all soaked in water.”
According to her, their children were unable to go to school, while workers were left with no choice but to stay home to clear the mess from the floods, lamenting further that they could not even cook as all their properties were soaked with water.
Ms Millicent Adjato, a flood victim, having a baby strapped to her back, demonstrated how they scoop water with a bucket from the corridor into the compound, expressing, however, that because the water in the compound was yet to recede, they have been left with the ordeal of living with water-filled rooms.
She said, in the past, when it rained, the water seeped into the room from the ground, but the Sunday rains brought a new dimension of water overflowing from the compound and into the room.
Mr Totimeh, the Tema West MCE, inspecting the areas, said the engineers of the assembly were assessing the situation to advise on whether there was the need for an immediate demolition exercise as a solution to the issue.
“We would not stand here and say we are going to see demolishing, but if we must do some demolishing to solve the problem, engineers are the experts; they will give that expert advice.
“What we want is to solve the problem; if it is some demolishing or giving way to allow the water to go through its rightful path, then that is exactly what we will do, but it all rests with our experts,” he said.
He gave the assurance that officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) who accompanied him to the scenes would mobilise and give the needed relief items to affected residents.
He also announced that a safe shelter had been provided for affected areas and urged them to relocate to the shelter till the water recedes.
Mr James Enu, the Member of Parliament for Tema West, said some of the areas are low-lying areas where people have filled up and built in without taking precautionary measures.
“I think the whole problem has been occasioned by the fact that development is unregulated, people build without permits, and people build without the necessary paperwork where the technical people at the assembly will advise,” he said.
He also called for intensification in education on good sanitation practices in the communities to ensure that drainage and waterways are not filled with refuse, which also contributes to rainwater overflow.
He further called on residents in flood-prone areas to stay alert, be careful and be prepared to move to higher areas during the rainy season to reduce the devastating effect.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade