Committee set up to distribute relief items

Tamale, April 25, GNA - Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), on Wednesday inaugurated an 11-member committee instituted to oversee the distribution of relief items for the Tamale rainstorm disaster victims.

The committee will be responsible for identifying the most affected displaced persons and distribute relief items including proceeds from the Tamale Emergency Relief Fund (TERF) fairly and transparently to the affected persons.

Alhaji Mahamoud Alhassan, Northern Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), is the chairman of the committee, which is to use every means possible to work and ensure that the relief items do not get into wrong hands.

Mr Adam urged the committee members to work effectively to win the public confidence and advised them not to put any political, religious or ethnic inclination into the mode of distribution. He said they should use international standards if possible for the distribution to ensure that no one was left out and urged them to consider any other factors that might become necessary to bring relief to the affected persons.

Other members of the committee comprised a representation of the Tamale Metro Bureau of National Investigation (BNI), the Metro Police Commander, representative of the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director and three representatives of the disaster victims.

Meanwhile, the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly had paid 100 million cedis to the Tamale Emergency Relief Fund (TERF), as part of its contribution to help alleviate the plight of the victims. Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, who spoke to the GNA in an interview said initial estimate of the disaster on government property, market stalls, bill boards and the street electricity poles alone cost more than 30 billion cedis. He said NADMO field officers were still on the ground registering individual victims, affected houses and displaced persons and that the overall figure would cost more 50 billion cedis. Mr Adam appealed to the public, NGOs and corporate bodies to contribute to the Fund, with the Standard Chartered Bank account number 0100170917800 to assist the displaced persons.