The Northern Regional Minister Mr. Salifu Saeed says residents of Nawunni in the Kumbungu district of the Northern region will be evacuated to safety if necessary. At least, some two thousand residents of two fishing communities have been affected by the spilling of the Burkina Faso based Bagre dam. Homes and farms have submerged following flooding of the White Volta Lake that runs through the Nawunni and Afayili communities.
Most dwellers as of Sunday September 13, had been evacuated to a basic school in the community. But their dwelling place is gradually being taken over by water. Members of the Northern Regional Security Council and journalists who had visited Nawunni have had to board canoes to access the evacuated area. An obvious risky scene.
“We will evacuate them forcibly if need be because it is not safe any longer”, Mr. Salifu Saeed told ZAMI Reports.
The Chairman of REGSEC charged the National Disaster Management Organization to respond to the plight of affected dwellers adding any delay will put lives at risk.
“NADMO should quickly marshal all available support for nearby communities”.
Speaking on how the perennial flooding could be curbed, the Minister revealed the annual problem will soon be converted to an annual opportunity referencing measures put in place by government.
“Government recognizing this old age problem that we battle is consciously converting this annual problem to annual opportunity by applying national resources to dig the Pwalugu multi-purpose dam which will absorb the excess water from the spillage of the Bagre dam”.
District Chief Executive of Kumbungu Mr. Abdul-Salam Hamza Fatawu told ZAMI Reports, the current location where the affected persons have been evacuated to was the safer ground as of the time of evacuation.
“The schools were the safer grounds as of the time we evacuated them but with what we are seeing, we have to relocate them further”.
He indicated some of the affected persons including children and the aged have been evacuated to school structures in Dalung, metres away from the hard hit communities.
“Water is gradually building up even in Dalung where we thought was the safest and they will also have to be relocated”.
Meanwhile, dwellers were counting their losses at the time of our visit. Some buildings could only be identified by the roofs. Some fisher folks however braved the water is they continue to fish amidst rising water levels.
Zubaida Afua Mabuno Ismail|www.zamireport.com|Nawuni|N/R.
