Hundreds of residents from two municipalities in the Western Region, Ahanta-West and Nzema-East, who were displaced by torrential rainfall a fortnight ago, have received support from the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).

The heavy and continuous rain either flooded or collapsed many residential facilities leaving the occupants with nothing in some 21 communities. Most of the affected residents left homeless by the situation are currently staying in community centres, churches and other public facilities.

The Municipal National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Director for Nzema –East, Anthony Ernest Amoah, in an interview, said the situation this year was far worse than previous incidents as many residents were unable to enter their homes, while those who were able to have access to their homes had their belongings and food items destroyed.

He said ten communities have been affected in his municipality with close to a thousand five hundred victims recorded from three of the communities.

In his estimation, over four thousand residents may have been affected in all the communities.

“Some of these communities have been badly affected that it has become difficult getting there. For some, I have to go through other districts like Tarkwa”, he noted.

“A lot of damages have been done, collapsed buildings, properties that cannot be quantified, and we are now soliciting help from corporate organizations and philanthropists.

Mr Amoah thus expressed gratitude to the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) for supporting the communities of Dawen, Averabo, Ahunyame, Adrikaso and Bamiako.

Eleven communities with over three thousand residents in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Region were also affected badly by the rain, with some communities submerging in flood waters for three to four days.

In this regard, the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited donated relief items worth GHS135, 000 to the two municipalities to help caution the affected victims and their families.

The relief items donated by GREL included detergents, hundreds of blankets, clean water, boxes of tomatoes, vegetable cooking oil, bags of rice, sugar and gari, among many others.

Presenting the items, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Société Internationale de Plantations d'Hévéas (SIPH), the mother company of GREL, Marc Genot, said the company was touched by the plight of the victims; hence the decision to support them.

He said as a corporate citizen operating in the region, the gesture was a reflection of its commitment to being responsive to communities in its catchment area.

“We have been with the communities all these years, and we consider ourselves as part of the people so we cannot stand and watch or turn a blind eye to their plight,” he said.

Mr Genot said the items were carefully selected to help the victims to meet their immediate needs as they worked to get back to their normal economic activities and contribute to the development of the country.

The company, he said, was not only handing the items over to the people through various assemblies and NADMO officials but is “making sure the items are moved to the communities immediately.”

The Paramount Chief of the Lower Dixcove, Nana Agyeman IX, who doubles as the Chairman of the Association of Chiefs on whose Land GREL Operates (ACLANGO), said it was time to reconsider where to build properties taking into consideration waterlog areas and highlands.

He however expressed gratitude to GREL for their timely intervention and sufficient supply of relief items to the affected communities and residents. He said the rubber company was the only corporate body that supported communities that were affected by the rain last year.

On behalf of the traditional leaders, he expressed their sympathy to the affected victims and prayed they will be able to pull through and bounce back to the routine activities.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ahanta West Municipality, John Agyare, while expressing appreciation to GREL on behalf of victims, said he was overwhelmed by the level of devastation, and so he was forced to write to corporate bodies around for help to augment what the government has provided.