Ghana appeals for international aid after floods

ACCRA, Oct 26

Ghana has appealed for emergency international assistance following a flood disaster that has killed at least 70 people and displaced more than 280,000 in three northern provinces.

``The initial estimate for quick emergency relief and rehabilitation in the three regions is $21 million,'' Interior Minister Nii Okaija told foreign diplomats in Accra late on Monday.

He said the cost was beyond the means of the government, which he said had undertaken rehabilitation and resettlement work to the tune of about $5 million.

Unusually heavy rains in September, described by the Meteorological Service as the worst for 30 years, ravaged vast tracts of farmland in Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions.

Ghana's cocoa producing regions are in the southwest and southeast of the country, well away from the disaster area.