Upper East floods: “We haven’t thought of airlifting relief items to victims” – NADMO

The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) says it has not thought of airlifting relief items to flood victims in the Upper East region.

This comes days after torrential rains washed away over 200 houses, leaving thousands of residents displaced.

28 people have so far been confirmed dead with 19 others sustaining various degrees of injuries.

Affected areas include; Kasina Nankana East and South, Builsa South, Bawku among others.

Jerry Asomani, Upper East regional NADMO Director revealed the situation has left several caskets displaced at some of the cemeteries.

According to him, water from the cemeteries has been flowing into nearby boreholes and wells which serve as sources of water for residents.

“Graveyards are collapsing, boreholes are collapsing and water moving from graveyards into boreholes definitely might bring diseases,” he said.

Victims are yet to receive relief items from NADMO almost a week after the disaster struck.

Speaking in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Friday, Communications Director for NADMO, George Ayisi said trucks are yet to leave Accra to the Upper East region with the items.

“We’re loading about three trucks with relief items here in Accra. They will leave to Upper East soon and it will take about 11 hours for the items to get to them,” he stated.

When asked why the items were not airlifted to the victims, Mr Ayisi said that did not cross the minds of management.

“Honestly, we didn’t think about that. But I will discuss that with my boss so we consider that next time,” he added.

This explanation did not go down well with former Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) Boss, Kwame Jantuah, who is questioning the responsiveness of the disaster management organization in times of crisis.

“This is an emergency and I don’t understand why NADMO which is supposed to handle disaster is always centered in Accra. Why are we sending emergency equipment from Accra to the North?… Our Armies, are they going to war? When was the last time Ghana Army went to war if not for peace missions? We have helicopters don’t we? And planes that carry cargo for the army. Ain’t those planes stagnant now? If  George Ayisi says they didn’t think about it, what were they thinking then?,” he quizzed.