Security forces have been helpful in disaster response – NADMO

The Upper East Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Jerry Asamani has recognized the role of security forces in the response to the damage caused by spillage from Burkina Faso’s Bagre dam coupled with heavy rains in the Upper East region.

Some areas in the Upper East have been flooded as a result of the spillage of excess water from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso and excessive rainfall in the area.

Speaking on the coordination of security forces with NADMO, Jerry said: “Coordination with security forces is apt. We are working with security personnel. The fire service is pumping water out of houses and the soldiers are around. The police are all around. It is an ongoing exercise. The search and rescue exercise is when the army comes in. As at now, there has been no report of missing persons so the search and rescue is on the standby. The police and NADMO are to stay at various crossings to advise people not to attempt the crossing and that is what we are currently doing”.

The NADMO director furthered that while the organization is doing all it can to manage the disaster in the region, it can only get the needed data after the water has receded.

“During disaster occurrences, you are not able to get the total number of people, houses, farmlands that are affected. Farmlands that are almost about one (1) meter or two (2) meters high submerged. You cannot physically go down there to make a count. We collaborate with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the health ministry to get the data. But as at now, the water must recede. Visually, we will be seeing farmlands that are affected but to really get the account, we are dealing with that”.

The issue of spillage from the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso has been of great concern for many years.

The current government in its effort to control the situation promised the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-purpose dam which was to begin in April 2020. The President noted that the project was the biggest single investment that any government had ever made in the northern part of Ghana and it is expected to promote sustained growth and development.

However, information reaching Happy 98.9FM last week suggested that while the project had begun, it had unfortunately been submerged in water flowing from the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso.