The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS) has donated 56 temporary shelter kits to the Ketu South Assembly to address the immediate shelter needs of victims of tidal wave disaster there.
The kits will be enough to provide 28 of 12×12 temporary shelters to cater for a family of five each.
Mr Jonathan Hope, National Disaster Manager, GRCS in an interview with the Ghana News Agency during the presentation of the shelter kits said the decision was informed by a joint needs assessment conducted during the recent tidal wave disaster that hit coastal communities in Ketu South.
“We heard of the tidal wave disaster and sent a team of volunteers to conduct a needs assessment. We realised there was the need for shelters because the data said 55 households and 85 structures were affected in the recent tidal wave disaster.
We met with the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for discussions on providing temporary shelters to cushion the people until the government comes in to provide permanent shelters for them.”
Mr Hope said his outfit would continue to look for more temporary shelter kits as the number thought to cater for 56 families reduced to 28 because two packs of the kits instead of one would be required to provide a shelter.
“We’re still appealing to corporate Ghana to assist with the needs of the people. And we’ll appeal to the people to also listen to the experts and move to higher grounds to avert casualties in the events of tidal wave disasters in future,” he said.
Work is currently ongoing on a reclaimed land at a beach at Agavedzi to fix about 10 of the GRCS-provided shelter kits after which other sites – considered safe enough will be identified to fix the remaining ones.
Mr Maxwell Koffie Lugudor, MCE for Ketu South thanked GRCS for their support and said the Assembly was doing everything possible to get the temporary shelters ready for any eventuality.
“We’ll still continue talking to others to get help to cater for the shelter needs of more families because we don’t want to be taken unawares especially when the Ghana Meteorological Agency recently keeps warning of possible tidal wave attacks.”
Mr Eben Assah, Assembly member for Agavedzi Electoral Area expressed gratitude to GRCS and the Assembly for the efforts to help the people but appealed for construction works on the proposed 15-unit two-bedroom houses on the island around the Agavedzi-Salakope area to be fast-tracked to accommodate victims.
Source: Newsghana
