Tetegu Queen Mother cries for help over floods

The perennial floods of Tetegu, a community in the Ga South Municipality in the Greater Accra Region has over the years remained a devil, threatening lives and property.

This year's flooding situation in Tetegu has not been different; the entire township was locked up in floods for over three weeks, making it very dangerous and uncomfortable. Children could not go to school through out the entire period, and this clearly could affect their academic performance.

Workers could not go to work, thereby affecting productivity and bringing poverty to the community. The situation has been so serious that even the animals in the community were trapped in the floods.

But one would asked; what at all has been the course of this flood problem and why no solution has been found to tackle flooding in Tetegu over the years. In such flood situations, the streets of Tetegu are virtually covered by floods with majority of homes turned into swimming pools, making it almost impossible to move about. Only the brave ones can go out from their homes in the floods, and they have to do so in long Wallington boots.

Naa Kafui Kuwonu is the Queen Mother of Tetegu, and she spoke to the Express in an exclusive interview at Tetegu after an encounter with the media on the flood issue bedeviling the community.

The queen mother expressed regret, saying during such periods of floods, life in Tetegu virtually comes to a stand still as women cannot go to the hospital for labor, women cannot go the market to sell or even buy food items for the family, and children are kept away from school, people cannot sleep in their homes because homes have become flooded beyond control.

Naa Kafui almost broke in tears as she counted the losses in the community as a result of the floods.

"All Monies and properties belonging to the people have been destroyed and we have not received any assistance from any quarters", she lamented. She therefore asked the government to, as a matter of urgency, turn attention to Tetegu and assist them.

She said they have no place to go to because they were born there. They have lived in Tetegu for many years now, even before the Weija dam was built. She added that the community was in existence without floods until the dam was built. So why would anybody ask them to leave?

Speaking, the Principal Elder of Tetegu, Mr. Elias Demenyo Vervornu, also added his voice and asked government to dredge the Densu river which lies in the middle of the community to allow it to accommodate heavier volumes of water during periods of spillage of the Weija dam. He however called on government to take immediate steps to end the perinial flooding in Tetegu to safe lives and properties.

A resident in the community and victim of the floods, Madam Vivian Owusu cried whilst narrating her ordeal to the Express. She showed fresh wounds on her body inflicted on her as a result of falling in a pit because the floods had covered everywhere.

She complained that she had moved all her children to Kasoa for safety, and the children have to travel all the way from Kasoa back to attend school everyday at Oblogo, another community in the Ga South municipality everyday. She however pleaded with the authorities to head to the cry of the Tetegu people.