Day: November 1, 2023

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business in Parliament, has called for the Volta River Authority (VRA) to brief the House on the recent Akosombo Dam Spillage, which had led to flooding of some communities downstream. The Majority Leader made the call on Tuesday during a press conference in Parliament House in Accra. He said recent heavy rainfalls recorded in the country and the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso had really contributed to immersed flooding in the north. ‘This year, thanks to the heavy down pour of rains, we were preparing ourselves for bounteous harvest, unfortunately we had this inundation of farmlands due to the massive rainfalls and the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso,’ he said. ‘That certainly is going to compound the food situation in the country, the hope is that it will not lead to the skyrocketing of food prices to add to the already high level of food inflation in the country. I am hoping that it is not going to happen that way.’ He said, however, because of the fear of breaching the Dam, the VRA caused a controlled spillage of the Akosombo Dam. He noted that even though the spillage was controlled, because of the heavy rainfalls it made the communities down south to the Dam to be already flooded, hence, the spillage of the impounded Da ‘People have lost properties, houses, vehicles, livestock and even lives and crops have also been lost,’ Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said. ‘So, certainly it is going to contribute to the impoverishment of the people downstream; that is below the Akosombo Dam.’ He mentioned the immediate communities Akrade, Atimpoku and the rest. ‘I believe as representatives of the people, we should show concern. We need to have some dialogue with the Speaker to know exactly what we should be able to do as a House to assist them,’ he said. On my own part, some of our own colleagues, because it exacted a considerable toll on them, must individually also bear some burdens in relieving the people, the communities that they represent of those hardships. So, they’ve been calling on me to also come to their aid, except that it is not easy for any of us.’ The Majority Leader said: ‘Notwithstanding, I believe we may need to find some answers to some questions. And the speaker is not yet here, but when the Speaker comes, we will have some discussions with him, and I believe it will be important for us to invite VRA to come and fully brief the House about what has happened, the repercussions, and how to avoid any future such events.’ He said it was pivotal for them to also look at the integrity of the Akosombo Dam itself.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A national campaign dubbed ‘Heal the Gut- Save the Liver’ has been in Accra to promote education on liver health and care in all parts of the country. The campaign, launched by Save Your Liver Foundation, the first liver health Non-Governmental Organization in Sub-Saharan Africa, is to ensure that Gut-Liver health is adopted as the first recourse to Ghana’s preventive health culture. The liver is the largest organ in the body which performs over 500 vital functions daily to keep one alive and removes harmful toxins from nearly 100 gallons of blood per day. The gut refers to the gastrointestinal (GI) system, which is part of alimentary canal, particularly the stomach and the intestines. Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, President of Save Your Liver Foundation, said the campaign was necessitated by the rise in diabetes, autoimmune diseases, stroke, heart diseases, chronic kidney diseases, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, prostate diseases, digestive and chronic diseases. He said an unhealthy gut lining may have cracks, allowing partially digested food and toxins to penetrate the tissues beneath it. ‘This may trigger inflammation and changes in the guts normal bacteria, which could lead to problems within the digestive tract and beyond,’ he said. Mr Azongo said when the Gut-Liver Axis becomes impaired, it affects its ability to filter blood, and immediately begins to allow toxins into the blood stream, a condition called leaky gut. The President said a leaked gut may lead to the onset of diabetes, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, prostate diseases, digestive disorders, and most chronic diseases among others hence the campaign. He said leaky gut and diseased liver had become the two medical red flags, which all needed to turn attention to. Mr Azongo said ‘The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates spoke on the role of the gut to the general health when he said, ‘all diseases begin in the gut.’ A healthy gut and liver form the core of long-term wellness.’ He emphasised that the campaign was to inspire all organisations in liver health to include gut-liver health education by joining Save Your Liver Foundation to promote gut-liver health in the country. He also called on the media to educate the public to make gut-liver health the number one preventive Ghanaian health culture. Dr Nathan Quarcoo, the Medical Consultant, Lord Healthcare, said stress, food, self-medication, and consumption of processed foods among others could cause gut-liver disease. He said the majority of Outpatients Department (OPD) cases were because people did not take good care of their guts. Dr Quarcoo urged Ghanaians to be mindful of what they consumed.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The GAMA Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA SWP) has contructed 59,000 households toilets to improve access in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Areas. These toilet facilities, according to Mr Gabriel Engman, Sanitary Engineer, GAMA SWP, were constructed in low-income urban communities to complement government’s efforts and thereby push the nation on achieve the Sustainable Development Goals Six (SDGs 6). The United global goals 6.1 and 6.2 enjoins countries around the world to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water as well as access adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations by 2030 respectively. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the side-lines of the 34th Mole Conference, underway at Jirapa in the Upper West Region, Mr Engman said the GAMA SWP had also provided 598 gender friendly sanitation facilities in the two Metropolitan Areas. The GAMA SWP is a World Bank funded project which started in 2015 in the Greater Accra and later expanded to the Greater Kumasi and aimed at improving sanitation, water supply and environmental sanitation services. Mr Engman said the project had further supported the Ghana Water Limited to extend and provide water supply to 15,000 households in the project implementing areas. He said the country was on course, however, doubted if the country could achieve the set target for the UN goal six, saying there was a lot of work to be done and everybody must support the government in improving the sanitation and water situation in the country. The CONIWAS, with support from its partners, is organizing the four-day conference on the theme: ‘building inclusive and resilient Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) systems to reach the unserved.’ About 170 participants, comprising policy makers, government actors, practitioners, Members of Parliament (MPs) as well as Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs). The GAMA Sanitation and Water Project and World Vision Ghana are also sponsoring some members of the Media Coalition against Open Defecation (M-CODe) to participate in the conference. Mr Engman said he was optimistic that the project would get more funding from the World Bank to be extended to other regions, so that the nation would derive the optimum benefit. Besides the physical infrastructure, he added the project had also undertaken capacity training for judicial service and assembly staff as well as trained and provided artisanal workers with manuals on the bio-digester toilets. It has also built two sewage systems, one in Ashaiman and the other at Bankumam within the Tema Metropolitan Area for proper management of liquid waste disposal.

Source: Ghana News Agency