VRA ASSISTS UPPER EAST FLOOD VICTIMS (PAGE 42, DEC 1, 2010)

THE management of the Volta River Authority (VRA) has donated a quantity of food items to be distributed to some displaced flood victims in the Upper East Region.
Officials of the VRA handed over the items, including 95 maxi-bags of maize and 50 bags of locally milled rice to the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, as its contribution towards ameliorating the suffering of the people who were victims of the recent spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso and excessive rainfall in the region.
A Senior Community Relations Officer of the VRA, Alhaji Mohammed Siam who made the presentation, said the donation was to augment the efforts of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in supporting the victims of the floods.
He said similar donations had been made to flood victims in the Northern Region and that the VRA was committed to assisting deprived people, especially the vulnerable in the severely affected communities.
Mr Mark Woyongo thanked the VRA for helping to alleviate the suffering of the people and indicated that the donation would go a long way to complement the efforts of NADMO in attending to the affected families in deprived communities.
He also commended the VRA for donating locally milled rice instead of the imported one since that would encourage local rice farmers to maximise their output and also keep them in business.
The Regional Co-ordinator of NADMO, Mr Patrick Akake, said the floods that hit the region early this year left in its trail devastation and he did not rule out the possibility of many people migrating to other parts of the country in search of other jobs.
“The situation in the villages is very bad and most families struggle to get their daily meal”, he said, and appealed to other organisations to emulate the gesture of the VRA and coming to the aid of the affected persons.