Keta Municipal Assembly holds emergency meeting to address flood situation

The Keta Municipal Assembly has on Tuesday June 13, held a joint emergency Executive Committee (EZECO) and Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) meeting following heavy rains in parts of the Municipality that left scores of homes and schools inundated with flood waters.

It was to brainstorm over the current flooding situation and to map out strategies to deal with the situation and to prevent same from recurring in the future.

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Keta, Emmanuel Gemegah said in an interview that the assembly had tasked the various departments under the assembly in charge of these issues and asked for some budgets to be presented for approval by the finance committee to to enable the assembly deal with the situation.

He said the assembly in the aftermath of the flooding embarked on a fact finding visit to the affected communities and schools to gather first-hand information on the happening so as to know what form of assistance to offer the affected households and schools in the interim.

"We have taken a tour of all the affected communities and schools to know first-hand the extent of havoc caused by the heavy rains and the subsequent flooding - we realized that the situation is dire and we are doing our best to address the development and putting measures in place to prevent a repeat of same in the future," the MCE said.

Gemegah observed that Keta was a low lying area below sea level which contributed largely to the perennial occurrence.

He further observed that most people in the Municipality sited their buildings on water ways with others building their houses without raising the foundations which was mostly responsible for the flooding situation.

The MCE appealed to the residents to raise their buildings and structures at least two meters above ground to forestall the occurrence in the future.

He said most of the residents also threw garbage anyhow, a situation which could result in the outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera and malaria in the Municipality in times like these.

The MCE therefore appealed to the residents to adopt good hygiene practices and learn to dispose off waste appropriately to enhance public health.

He said flooding in schools is one area the assembly was working steadily to address so that academic work can resume.

He added that the assembly was collaborating with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and other relevant institutions to provide some relief to the affected families and schools whiles efforts were being made to find a permanent solution to the problem.

Heavy rains last weekend with it's accompanying flooding in the Keta Municipality ravaged several homes and disrupted academic activities in some schools.

Many affected households and schools in the Municipality have had to improvise to go about their daily activities.

Schools have been closed and economic activities in the affected communities have come to a standstill as a result of the destructive floods.