Gender Ministry Donates to Support Asawase Disaster flood Victims

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection with support from  Direct Aid Africa, a Charitable Organization,  has donated  an  assorted relief items to support  the 250 people who were victimized by the  heavy downpour that wreck  Asawase, a suburb of Kumasi  in the  June 3 disaster that occurred in the  Ashanti Region.

The items includes  250 bags of rice, 250 mattresses, 250 blankets, 250 gallons of cooking oil, 250 cans of tomato paste and school bags for children.

According to the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Nana Oye Lithur, each of the 250 victims who were badly affected by the floods disaster will receive a bag of rice, mattress, a blanket, a gallon of cooking oil, cans of tomato paste and school bags for the children.

She commended all other organizations and individuals who in diverse ways have complemented Government efforts at mitigating the effect of the June 3 flood, fire disaster.

 In her statement during a colourful ceremony for the presentation, Nana Oye Lithur noted Government and its partner; Direct Aid Africa is touched by the plight of the flood disaster victims therefore decided to donate the items to ease their pain.

 She said, “Following the floods, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection decided to help ease the pain of the victims to regain the loss”.

 She disclosed in addition to the donation, Government has also set up an emergency LEAP intervention programme, under which 3.9 million Ghana Cedis would be given to victims within a three month period. 100 Cedis would be given to each household of about 13 000 total affected households. “I am glad to announce that data collection is almost completed and payment to beneficiaries will soon begin” she hinted.

Nana Oye Lithur first began her speech by extending the Ministries condolences to the bereaved families of the 152 victims who perished in the June 3 gory flood and fire disaster which occurred at the Goil fuel station near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Recounting on the incident, that took place one month ago, she lamented how on that fateful day many communities in Ghana where affected by the deadly floodwaters.  Residents, traders and commuters at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra especially were the most affected as fire suspected to have been fuelled by leaked petrol from a filling station swept through the flood waters, burning anything on its way, she said.

Describing the incident as very devastating, she noted figures released by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) indicated that more than 150 people lost their lives.

She further explains, “NADMO figures further reveal that the June 3 floods disaster did not only affect Greater Accra but four other regions including the Ashanti Region. 1,486 persons in Ashanti were affected.

Nana Oye Lithur also reflected on how Ghana became the first country in Africa to attain MDG1, by reducing extreme poverty rates by half through the Gender Ministries Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) programme which has been leading the fight against extreme poverty.

The Minister also indicated that about 8628 households in Ashanti Region are currently on the LEAP programme.

She also stated an amount of 522,462 Ghana Cedis is paid to these households during every cycle of payment.

In addition to that, she said, The Ministry is undertaking a targeting exercise to select 60000 more beneficiaries to add up to the current 90000 beneficiary households, adding that  5656 households in Ashanti will be added to the current number of beneficiaries.

 She expressed relief that the LEAP programme has impacted positively on beneficiary households which has yielded result with many more children staying in school including the improvement of the local economy of beneficiary communities.

Nana Oye Lithur assured the Asawase flood disaster victims that  government  is poised to do all that is possible to mitigate their plights by bringing their lives to normalcy when she presented the items to them on behalf of the Ministry last Tuesday in the Ashanti Region.

 “We are at a risk of erasing to some extent, the gains made over the last few years if emergency interventions such as these are not put in place.

That is why interventions like these are very important to us. We believe that this intervention will restore hope to the victims” Nana Oye Lithur maintained.

Asawase recorded a violent flooding after a 4-hour heavy downpour on that fateful June 3 disaster day, wreaking havoc in Kumasi, the garden city of Ghana.

 It was reported that the torrential rains have swept through a storey building putting occupants of the house under siege for several hours. Drivers and commuters were also not left out as several cars submerged in water and had to be abandoned by their owners.

The situation in Accra was a bloody one claiming more than 150 lives when the Goil fuel station near Kwame Nkrumah Circle exploded after most commuters sought refuge under it during the flood disaster.

The  Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection  together with Direct Aid Africa has earlier on presented rice, mattresses, blankets, cooking oil and school bags to victims of the floods in the Keta Municipality and Osu since the June 3 disaster.