SWEDRU CUT OFF BY FLOODS (SPREAD, JUNE 24, 2010)

THREE bridges connecting the Agona Swedru municipality to neighbouring communities have collapsed as a result of the flooding of the area last Sunday.
The situation has compelled residents of and travellers to the municipality to join long queues at both ends of the River Akora to commute between the eastern and the western ends of the municipality.
Travellers from Swedru to Accra, Winneba, Cape Coast, Sekondi-Takoradi and beyond have to make a detour through either Bawjiase and Kasoa or Breman Asikuma and Mankessim.
Electricity supply has also been cut throughout the municipality and its environs as a result of the flooding, while commercial activities have seriously been affected.
Even walking from one end of the town to the other is a problem, as policemen, who serve as guides, have to assist people who walk across the collapsed Akora Bridge on the main Swedru-Winneba Junction-Accra road.
Many buildings, electric poles and cables, property such as vehicles and personal belongings estimated at several millions of Ghana cedis have been destroyed by the floods, which were unprecedented in the history of the town.
During a visit by the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, to some of the affected communities last Tuesday, some of the residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic said they had been devastated by the floods.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has temporarily accommodated over 1,500 flood victims from Zabon Zongo at the Agona Swedru Town Hall.
Several houses were also destroyed at Adawukwa, while rice and vegetable farms at the Okyereko Irrigation site were completely submerged.
Also submerged was Tekyem, a village near Awombrew in the Gomoa East District, whose residents were evacuated by the National Emergency and Rapid Response Unit of NADMO.
The displaced people are currently lodging in the primary and junior high schools and the Presbyterian Church at Awombrew.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe blamed the flooding on lawlessness, lack of planning and monitoring in settlements and urged district and municipal assemblies to step up efforts to address the chaotic situation.
She consoled the victims, but praised them for saving the lives of some of the people trapped in vehicles that were swept away by the floods.
The chief of Agona Swedru, Nana Kobina Botwe II, called for immediate steps to reconstruct the main bridge over the Akora River which was built in 1920.
The Omanhen of the Nyakrom Traditional Area, Nana Nyarko Eku, urged the government to take the necessary remedial steps to bring relief to the people in the affected communities.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency and Rapid Response Unit, the 48 Engineers Regiment and NADMO are monitoring and assessing the situation to bring relief to the displaced people.