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dam-l Ghana floods-relief request/LS



                               Ghana Asks $21 Million in Wake of Killer Floods

                               ACCRA, Ghana, October 27, 1999 (ENS) - The
heaviest rains in 30 years have caused severe flooding in three
                               northern regions in Ghana killing at least
70 people and displacing more than 280,000 persons.

                               The government has appealed for US$21
million in emergency relief assistance to the international community.

                                                             Ghana's
minister of interior Nii Okaija Adamafio, who is also
                                                             chairman of
the National Disaster Management Committee,
                                                             told diplomats
in Accra on Monday at a briefing that the money
                                                             is needed for
"quick emergency rehabilitation" in the affected
                                                             Upper West,
Upper East and Northern regions.

                                                             Adamafio said
the government has already spent "well beyond"
                                                             $5 million on
items like blankets, mats, roofing sheets, food
                                                             medicines to
aid the victims, a fraction of the expected cost of
                                                             reconstruction.

                                                             Of the total
relief money sought, he said, US$6 million would
                                                             be for the
immediate rehabilitation of roads, $2 million for
                                                             drugs, $1
million for tents and another $6 million for relief
                                                             food over the
next six months.

                                                             The minister
said 326,036 homes had collapsed and 282,227
                                                             people have
been affected. So far, 116,579 acres (47,180
                                                             hectares) is
affected. There have been 1,500 reported cases of
                                                             cholera and
225 settlements submerged in the Upper East
                                                             Region.

                                                             Map
                                                             of
                                                             Ghana
                                                             and
                               surrounding countries of
                               West Africa. (Map courtesy
                               CIA World Factbook)

                               Foreign Minister James Gbeho
                               told the diplomats that the floods
                               followed the heaviest rains in the
                               area in 30 years. The situation has
                               been worsened by the opening of a
                               hydroelectric dam spillway in
                               neighbouring Burkina Faso.

                               In response to the crisis, Swiss
                               Ambassador Peter Schwizer said,
                               the Swiss Red Cross has airlifted
                               relief items worth the equivalent
                               of US$142,096 to Ghana.

                               Each year, West Africa is prone to
                               devastating floods and 1999 is
                               worse than usual. All through
                               July, August and September,
                               West Africa has experienced
                               exceptionally heavy rainfall, flash
                               floods and tropical storms. The
                               countries which have been most
                               affected are Benin, Burkina-Faso,
                               the Gambia, Ghana, Mali,
                               Mauritania, Niger and Senegal.

                               The resultant flooding has caused widespread
displacement of people, loss of crops, destruction of property and has
                               jeopardised livelihoods. Those affected are
mostly subsistence farmers and labourers who eke out a living in difficult
                               conditions.

                               © Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All
Rights Reserved.

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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