As part of efforts to alleviate the suffering of the flood victims at Mepe in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, the management of Dainess Foods on the Spintex Road near Accra has become the latest entity or organization to support the Mepe flood disaster citizens with assorted relief items worth Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (Ghc50,000.00).
The items presented were mainly food products. They included thirteen (13) cartons of biscuits, ten (10) cartons of sunflower cooking oil, twenty (20) boxes of non-dairy creamer milk powder, and fifteen (15) cartons of tasty tom tin tomato mix. The rest were twenty-five (25) bags of twenty-five (25) kilograms of long grain rice as well as two hundred and five (205) bags of sachet drinking water.
The items were presented at a brief ceremony at Mepe, attended by some staff of Dainess Foods as well as some chiefs and elders of the Mepe Traditional Council. The chiefs were represented by the Manklalo of the Traditional Area, Togbe Korsi Nego VII. Others present at the event included Togbe Kofi Fenuku II, Zikpuitor Akaho, and the President of the Mepe Development Association (MDA), Mr. Kojo Mawulenu Fabian.
The eight (8)-member Dainess Foods delegation was led by its General Manager, Mr. Frank Antwi. Other members of the team included the Sales and Marketing Officer, Mr. Justice Grant, Mr. Joseph Anderson of the Sales and Marketing Unit as well as Ms. Briget Attipoe, Administrator of the Dainess Chef School in Accra.
Receiving the delegation, Manklalo of the Mepe Traditional Area, Togbe Korsi Nego VII, reiterated that the people of Mepe have never been asked by anyone to relocate anywhere ahead of the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams. According to him, the citizens of Mepe undertook a lot of rescue operations themselves even before the arrival of officials of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).
Togbe Nego VII described recent statements made by some government officials such as the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Hon. Dr. Freda Prempeh as well as the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as false, adding that there was no evacuation plan let alone any information to that effect.
He called on Ghanaians to disregard such media reports describing them as unfortunate and untrue.
Togbe Nego VII disclosed that a total of sixty-five thousand (65,000) bags of sachet water have so far been supplied to his people. Food supplies, he said have also reached some six thousand, eight hundred (Ghc6,800) households, adding that the chiefs and people of Mepe are grateful to all Ghanaians for their love and support and the benevolence shown to them in these trying times.
He noted that the major problem currently confronting them as chiefs and elders is how to relocate the high numbers of victims that are still occupying classrooms and educational facilities meant for schools, pupils, and students.
According to him, plans are underway to address the problem.
Togbe Nego VII was grateful to Dainess Foods for the gesture and stressed the need for other institutions and organizations to emulate their shining example, explaining that food is still a major issue for the people.
The latest relief items supported by Dainess Foods to the flood victims at Mepe were to complement the efforts of Ghanaians in bringing respite to the victims. The General Manager of Dainess Foods, Mr. Frank Antwi told our news team in an interview that the gesture formed part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to the people of Ghana.
According to him, management was touched by the plight of the people hence the decision to contribute their widows’ mite in ameliorating the challenges facing the people.
Mr. Antwi described the situation as very alarming and frustrating and urged Ghanaians and other companies out there to extend a helping hand to the affected victims. He assured that as a Ghanaian company that is into food and its related products, it would not hesitate to support courses that are inimical to the vulnerable and the needy in society.
After several weeks of flooding, the Mepe Township like any other disaster community is gradually returning to its normalcy amidst the huge challenge of where to relocate the huge number of disaster victims following the destruction of their houses by the flood waters.
