The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, has donated GH¢2 million to support persons affected by the Akosombo dam spillage. The donation was made at the North Tongu District Assembly at Mepe in the Volta Region after Mr Ofori-Atta led a delegation to visit the affected areas on Friday. Staff of the Finance Ministry also donated an amount of GH¢50,000 towards the same course.
Mr Ofori-Atta noted, “Let us be encouraged, Ministry of Finance as a family concerned about what has happened to our brothers and sisters, working with the VRA, we have brought something enough of GHS2 million to be able to support the relief that is going on and to thank Ghanaians for the spontaneous response.”
He further indicated “Clearly we are also prepared in terms of safe havens that had been put in place. So we are looking forward to supporting immediately as people have done and also looking long term to make sure that alternatives are provided.
“The issue of returning to homes is not a simple decision because of the issues of health. And so we need to put something into place to have access to capital to ensure that people can construct much faster than otherwise.”
Mr Ofori-Atta also announced that long-term relief measures for the victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage will be taken into consideration during the formulation of the 2024 budget.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Mr Ofori-Atta indicated that though the government had made some relief items available for victims, the government was going to continue to do more and also capture it in next year’s budget.
“We have mobilized a few things that we would like to share but I think we are also in the budget season and therefore it will not just be numbers that we are working on but true feelings in the field and therefore the need to look at these social interventions in a real way. We will certainly give this an expression immediately and
also in the budget,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has said that the water levels have started dropping.
By: Abigail Arthur
