By: Kingsley Attitsogbui| Tongu
GCB Bank PLC has commiserated with victims of the catastrophic Akosombo and Kpong dams spillage which has displaced many people especially in the Volta Region.
The bank, as part of its support system, donated some essential relief items to the victims in the three (3) Tongu districts in the Volta Region.
Items included 100 bags of rice, 50 cartons of cooking oil, 50 tin fish-mackerel, 1000 bags of sachet water, 100 pieces of mattresses, 100 pieces of blankets, 200 pieces of sponge, 100 pieces towels and 24 boxes of washing powder were handed over to the communities.
Others included boxes of carbolic soap, pieces of rubber buckets, cartons of sanitary pads, cartons of mosquito coil, packs of toiletries, pieces of washing bowls and pieces of normal bowls.
According to the Executive Head of Retail Banking of the Bank, Mr. John Adamah, the initiative formed part of the bank’s commitment to provide people centered banking that GCB has demonstrated for the past 70 years of providing unrivalled financial solutions towards the socio-economic development of Ghana.
This he said will help to alleviate the sufferings of the inhabitants of the affected communities in the Tongu areas as a result of the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams.
“As a bank we exist because of the people and so if the people are distressed then we cannot sit unconcerned whilst the people suffer. And the importance of this is that we want the communities within in which we operate and which include the Tongu communities to know that, the bank exist because of them. The bank thinks so deeply about them and in their distress, the bank is distressed as well and whatever the bank can do to alleviate their sufferings, the bank will do” he said.
Receiving the items on behalf of the districts, thus; North, Central and the South Tongu, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for North Tongu Hon. Osborne Divine Fenu, applauded the bank for the support and revealed that, it is the first financial institution to support.
He said, the items will go a long way in alleviating the sufferings of the people displaced, adding that every donation counts for the displaced people as more is needed to resettle them after the water recedes.
He cautioned people who are in haste to return to their houses which are still somehow in water to avoid the risk.
The Volta Regional Manager of the Bank, Mr. Francis Nyarko, who led the team from the region and the Head Office to the affected communities said the items are worth GHS200,000
The spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams begun on September 15 2023.
At least 35, 995 people have been displaced according to the latest updates from the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).
The North Tongu District, the hardest-hit, recorded the highest number of displaced people close to 14,000 which spans across 69 communities with 4,260 in 15 safe havens currently.
The spillage has negatively affected about 10 Administrative Districts in the Volta Region.