Officials of the Ghana Red Cross Society have cut the sod for the construction of 100 housing units for disaster victims in the Kassena-Nankana West and Builsa North Districts in the Upper East Region.
Torrential rains in October 2019 claimed 19 lives, injured 46 and rendered 26,698 residents homeless.
The number consists of 15,431 adults and 11,267 children in all the 15 municipalities and districts in the region.
A total of 6,142 houses were affected. Out of the figure, 2,222 houses completely collapsed and 3,920 partially collapsed.
Affected residents sought for shelter in schools, area councils and relatives.
But the Ghana Red Cross Society, in its bid to provide permanent shelter for some of the displaced residents, has commenced construction of two bedrooms each for 100 displaced residents in Mayoro and Sandema.
Speaking to Citi News at a sod-cutting ceremony at Mayoro in the Kassena-Nankana District, President of the Ghana Red Cross Society, Kwame Gyima-Akwafo said, the project is in fulfilment of a pledge made by his outfit to provide some displaced persons with befitting shelter after the disaster.
“We have made this intervention to alleviate the effect of the October 2019 disaster. We are providing 100 units two-bedroom house for the affected communities, 50 unit two-bedroom houses each for the Builsa North and Kassena-Nankana West districts. We are using the community-based approach, where, aside the Red Cross providing material support, the community will provide the labour component for the completion of the housing project and we expect to complete works by end of April,” he said.
Some beneficiaries of the project expressed their joy to Citi News.
Kwokoga Kajwom said, “We are very happy for this shelter that Ghana Red Cross Society is providing for us. During the torrential rains, many of us did not have a place to sleep. We had to seek refuge at schools, area councils and relatives and now that this project is happening we are grateful to the Red Cross.”
“We are happy for the help from the Ghana Red Cross which is building houses for us. Fowls even have shelter to live in let alone humans. It was disastrous that we did not have a place to sleep in after the disaster. It was going to be problematic to put up rooms on our own when we lost everything to the rains but now that the Red Cross is providing us with some shelter, we are very grateful,” Togokyere Nabare added.
Mr. Akwafo also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to supply the service with 26 tricycle ambulances to improve maternal health in the region.