Only ¢38,000 allocated for flood disasters - Samson Ahi

Government has been faulted for making negligible provision of resources for flood disasters for this year.

The ranking member on the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Samson Ahi says the government to as a matter of urgency fall on the contingency funds to make money available to the Works and Housing Ministry to prepare the country in readiness to deal with flood related disasters.

According to him the budgetary allocation in the 2017 budget is inadequate and will not make a dent on the relief needs of flood victims.

For close to a week after their homes, farms, shops and livestock were swept by flood waters, 3,000 displaced residents of Tamale are yet to receive any relief from the state.

They have been waiting on the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to deliver some relief items as they try to rebuild their lives.

Some victims are sleeping in the open and in some places residents have resorted to open defecation after their only place of convenience was destroyed.

Checks from NADMO in the Northern region indicate that there are no relief items in store to be distributed to the victims.

Samson Ahi who is also the MP for Bodi in the Western Region said only 38,000 cedis was allocated to deal with flooding in the 2017 budget, describing it as unfortunate.

He told JoyNews government must act fast to prevent a looming disaster with the onset of the rains.

The Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea is on record to have said the country requires 700 million dollars to address flooding in Greater Accra alone

“So why allocate this paltry 38,000 cedis for the whole country, the government must be serious and show leadership in this critical moment,” Mr. Ahi stated.

He told Joy News the Minority in Parliament will raise the issue on the floor of the House when the Minister for Finance comes before the House to present a supplementary and midyear review of the budget this week.