Floods force closure of AME Zion Basic School at Havedzi
The AME Zion Basic School, at Havedzi in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region. has been fully inundated by floodwaters, forcing the immediate closure of the institution and disrupting academic activities for pupils in the community.
A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the school shows the school compound completely submerged, with floodwaters reaching the window level of the classroom blocks, leaving no part of the facility accessible to pupils or teaching staff.
Mr Benjamin Dzah, a resident of the area, in an interview with the GNA, said that the flooding incident has raised serious health and safety concerns, with the affected community likely to suffer a prolonged exposure to the stagnant floodwaters that could expose pupils, teachers, and residents in the surrounding area to water-borne diseases and other related risks.
“Education delivery at this school has been brought to a complete halt; there is no clear timeline for when academic activities will resume as the floodwaters show no immediate signs of receding from the school’s premises,” he said.
He called for an urgent comprehensive damage assessment to be carried out to determine the full extent of destruction to the school’s infrastructure, including classroom blocks, furniture, and teaching and learning materials.
Mr Dzah, who is also a parent of two, demanded swift deployment of relief measures to support affected households and schoolchildren, many of whom are said to be facing difficulties because of flooding in the area and beyond.
He lamented the inability of the students and teachers to access the school for teaching and learning.
He added: “Our children are home, we don’t know when the school will be ready but remember our children will write same BECE and other exams together with those in Accra, Kumasi, Ho and others.
“We are calling on the Ghana Education Service, the Municipal Chief Executive, the National Disaster Management Organisation and other important authorities to intervene quickly to resolve this devastating situation. ”
Other residents the GNA engaged with, including students, are therefore appealing strongly to the MCE and other relevant municipal and district authorities to visit the affected area without further delay to assess the situation on the ground for themselves.
They are further calling on the authorities to coordinate prompt relief and recovery efforts to support the school and the affected community, which they stressed that timely intervention is critical to restoring normalcy and ensuring that pupils do not lose out on valuable academic time.
Some residents said that the flooding at Havedzi adds to the growing list of communities within the Keta Municipality grappling with the effects of the rainy season, which reinforced calls for sustained attention to flood management and disaster preparedness across the coastal district.
The GNA further gathered that communities such as Anyako, Lawoshime, Hagodzi, Mamime, Songbe, Tsiame, among others were severely affected by the flood while the Keta NADMO further continued to visit various areas for assessment.
Source: GNA