Government updates flood statistics

The government says 56 people died in floods that wrecked havoc in the northern part of the country late last month.

Interior Minister Kwamena Bartels, who is leading an inter- ministerial committee on the floods, said in Accra on Thursday that 332,548 people were displaced in the Northen, Upper East and Upper West regions.

He said 34,336 houses, mainly mud houses, collapsed in the affected regions and 70,526 hectares with a production potential of 144,430 metric tonnes of crops were destroyed.

Bartels said the government, in concert with its local and foreign development partners, NGOs, corporate bodies and individuals would continue to monitor the situation and factor all strategic planning and other components into its relief management strategy.

"We are faced with a disaster and what is even worrying is the fact that successful recovery from this situation is definitely going to be a difficult path fraught with dangers," he said.

Large swathes of land were covered with water when the floods came, following rains and the opening of spill gates of a dam in its northern neighbour, Burkina Faso.

The northern regions are the poorest in Ghana and the floods have aggravated the conditions of the people.

The floods came as the regions were complaining of drought that had seen crops wither and aborted the planning season.

Abubakar Saddique Boniface, minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, said they had embarked on aggressive education to sensitise the people to boil their water before drinking to avert any possible water- borne diseases.

"In addition we would be spraying the whole area and the water bodies to ensure that the people would be affected with diseases such as bilharzias and river blindness."

Boniface said the Ministry would dig some 2,000 boreholes for the people after the flood subsided.

"We are also carrying out an exercise to come out with a long term detailed design for our buildings. We are also considering changing the system of building but maintain our culture in modernity by adding cement to the brisk to give it weight," he said.