Floods: Sam George Lauds McDan, Electrochem Ghana For Intervening

Member of Parliament for the Ningo Prampram constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Samuel Nartey George, has lauded the Chairman of the McDan Group of Companies, Dr. Daniel McKorley, and Electrochem Ghana Limited for going to the aid of residents of the Ahwiam community, A suburb of Ningo, following the devastation that was caused by the heavy downpour on Saturday 20^th May, 2023.

He said Dr. McKorley’s response to his distress call for the release of earth-moving equipment for the dredging of the silted drains in the community was admirably swift and soothing.

He said “… ideally, this work should have been done by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) but the institution lacks the needed resources to make any meaningful intervention. As the Member of Parliament for the area, I also do not have the capacity to handle it alone, which was why I reached out to the Chairman of the McDan Group – who is also a son of the Ga-Dangme land like us – to extend his magnanimity to us. Characteristically, he quickly dispatched an excavator and tipper trucks to help clear the sediments in the drains which were causing the water to overflow the confines of the drains, resulting in the devastation that was witnessed,” he said.

He noted that the rainy season had set in and more rains were expected, which could cause more havoc because of the sheer level of silt in the canal and how saturated the ground had become.

We are at the start of the rainy season and no one knows when the next heavy downpour will come. With the amount of silt and how saturated the ground is, the next heavy downpour, predictably, will bring more havoc than we have seen, he said.

“I want to say on behalf of the people of Ningo-Prampram, Ahwiam and the surrounding communities that we are extremely grateful to Dr. Daniel McKorley for this humanitarian intervention. It goes a long way to tell what McDan and Electrochem Ghana stand for and what the businesses are about. It is not only about making money off our land but also giving back to our communities, we celebrate him for that,” he added.

In a brief comment that preceded the handover of the equipment to the MP for the commencement of the dredging exercise, Nene Odeopeor Siada, Deputy Operations Manager of Electrochem Ghana Limited, indicated that though the company’s operations did not extend to the Ningo-Prampram constituency, Dr. McKorley was moved by the plight of the people as reported and the request made by the MP for a helping to avert the looming disaster.

“Dr. McKorley will always respond positively and promptly to situations like this. That is why we are here today to start work even when the MP, in his own words, was he was expecting us in a week’s time. Our estimation is that the task at hand will take about five days to complete; work begins in earnest,” he emphasized.

According to the Assembly Member for the Ahwiam Electoral area, Hon. Samuel Lartey Laakotey, the running water, the first of that magnitude to be experienced in the community, caused the collapse of about fifteen houses sited along the canal and washed into the ocean anything in its way, including valuable properties of the people.

He added that “the displaced residents are currently putting up with other relatives who have not been impacted by the flood, and also appealed for humanitarian assistance for the affected.”