A heavy rainstorm last Monday destroyed 32 homes and a three-classroom block of the Tsame E.P. Primary School at Tsame, a suburb of Peki, in the Volta Region.
The school, which was closed in the aftermath of the devastating storm, will begin a shift system this week while the district assembly in the area takes steps to rehabilitate the affected classrooms.
The storm, which has been described as the heaviest in the area since 1968, has rendered 220 people homeless.
In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic, the District Chief Executive for South Dayi, Kafui Semanu Bekui, said engineers had visited and assessed the situation in the primary school.
“An estimated GH¢50, 000 has been made available by the district assembly for repair works, which is expected to be done within two weeks. We had an emergency meeting with the school authorities and agreed to run a shift system for the next few weeks while the school is renovated. What this mean is that the lower primary pupils will come from 7 a.m. to 12 noon, while the upper primary will have their turn from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” he explained.
The Assembly member of the Tsame Electoral Area, George Aikens Akotia, said the affected residents were either putting up with friends and relatives or living in temporary structures at the mercy of the weather.
He explained that even though the DCE and the NADMO coordinator had visited the area and taken stock of the losses, no immediate remedy had been offered yet.
“We have written the names of all the victims. As of now, most of them are so frustrated and have since the incident put incessant pressure on me to help them. We are still waiting for support from the higher authorities,” he said.
The District Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Habel Ofori-Kumah, who visited the area to assess the extent of damage, blamed the unfortunate situation on the cutting of trees because of the construction of the Eastern Corridor roads.
He, however, said he had forwarded a report on the extent of damage to the regional authorities for relief items.
“The relief package, including the cost of repairs in the school, is estimated at GH¢97,000. As soon as approval is given from the national level, the affected persons will be duly catered for,” he stated.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
