The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Alhassan Samari, has ordered the Builsa District Assembly to pull down houses and structures that have been built on water ways in the Sandema township. The Minister and his deputy, Mrs. Agnes Chigabatia, who is also MP for Builsa North were in the district to learn at first-hand the extent of damage caused by the recent rains that hit the area since Saturday. The floods which washed away a number of mud houses claimed the lives of three persons in the Builsa District and rendered some families homeless. The displaced victims are putting up in schools some of which were not spared. The Minister’s team later distributed relief items which included foam mattresses, rubber buckets, cups, second hand clothing and Wellington boots estimated at ¢10 million (GH¢1000) to the flood victims. Addressing some of the victims at separate meetings later, the Minister described the situation as catastrophic and assured that, government will do everything possible to reduce their suffering. He said he had informed the National Disaster Management Organisation headquarters in Accra and other agencies to come to their aid. Accompanying the minister who on his tour were department heads from the region including the Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Rural Housing, Department of Feeder Roads, Ghana Highways Authority and Deputy Regional Co-ordinating Director, Ibrahim Alhassan, Builsa District Co-ordinating Director briefing the minister said most communities have been cut off from Sandema, the district capital as roads and bridges have been washed away by the floods. In the Bawku area, a Bailley Bridge linking Bawku and Kulungungu to Burkina Faso in the North and the Republic of Togo in the East has collapsed. As a result over 500 articulated trucks conveying goods from Tema to land-locked countries as Niger and Mali are stranded causing congestion in the streets of Bolgatanga. Source: The Ghanaian Times Source: The Ghanaian Times