[ad_1]
General News of Monday, March 25, 2019
Source: clbadfmonline.com
2019-03-25
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, minority spokesman for foreign affairs
Minority Foreign Affairs Spokesman Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has suggested that Ghana's parliamentarians make voluntary contributions in kind or in cash to help Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, recently devastated by the cyclone Idai.
"This goes beyond solidarity and simple words," Ablakwa told parliament on Monday, March 25, 2019, adding: "Mr. President, I propose, if you wish, that we, members of the Parliament, all make voluntary donations, in cash or in kind that we should gather and give to our fellow Africans in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe who are in desperate need of our urgent help. "
Ghana's President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has already sent messages of condolence to the people of Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the wake of the devastation caused by Idai.
Mr. Akufo-Addo reported in three personalized letters, dated Wednesday, March 20, 2019, for President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, President Emerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe and President Peter Mutharika of Malawi. .
"On behalf of the Government and the people of Ghana, I extend my sincere condolences to your Excellency and the brotherly people of Mozambique for this tragedy," said President Akufo-Addo in one of the letters.
He continued, "You can rest badured of the solidarity of the Ghanaian people and their government in these difficult times. We are ready to help, to the extent of our modest means, to restore a sense of normalcy in the daily lives of the affected communities. "
The death toll in Idai has exceeded 750 deaths in the three countries of southern Africa struck 10 days ago by the storm as workers attempt to restore electricity and water and d & rsquo; Prevent a cholera outbreak.
In Mozambique, the death toll has risen to 446, including 259 in Zimbabwe and at least 56 in Malawi.
All death figures are still preliminary, said Mozambique's Environment Minister Celso Correia. As the waters flood and new bodies are discovered, the final toll in Mozambique could exceed the figure of 1,000 estimated by the country's president a few days after the cyclone, aid workers said.
Nearly 110,000 people are now in camps more than a week after cyclone Idai, said Correia, emergency coordinator of the Mozambican government. As efforts to rescue people trapped by floods dry up, aid workers in the region are preparing for the spread of diseases, including cholera and malaria.
Helicopters and boats were used to save people who were stranded for days on the roofs and in the trees. Some survivors searched the rubble with their hands to search for relatives, while the government and humanitarian agencies sought help.
"We will have cholera, we will have malaria. This is inevitable in this situation and the government is already opening a cholera treatment center, "Correia told reporters.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said that it had recorded some cases of cholera so far, but that the UN was not able to confirm this information.
Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the humanitarian situation is gradually improving. "Every day, the water recedes, we touch more people. Every day the roads are open, we have better access and we can deliver more volume, and that's important here. "
He said two large field hospitals and water purification systems were on the way, joining a large effort including drones to locate areas in need across the landscape of central Mozambique.
The extent of the devastation was "extraordinary", he said, not only because of the cyclone and floods, but also because the land had already been saturated by previous rains.
Much of the cyclone-affected region of Mozambique remains disconnected from electricity supply, complicating relief efforts.
No fewer than 109,000 people live in shelters in central Mozambique, many of which are in and around Beira.
These shelters "also run the risk of contracting infectious diseases such as diarrheal diseases and measles," said James McQuen Patterson, director of health and nutrition at Unicef.
"And because many families have lost everything, some sleeping under the stars, the risk of pneumonia, especially among children, is increasing dramatically," he said.
One of the survivors, six-year-old Elena Joaquin, is clinging to a coconut surrounded by pans in a shelter in Buzi, southwest of Beira, where she was refugee with her parents.
He also stressed the need to help people living with HIV / AIDS to resume treatment as soon as possible in Sofala, which has one of the highest rates of HIV infection. of Mozambique.
Source link
