Mills directs NADMO to address plight of flood victims

Accra, June 20, GNA - President John Atta Mills has directed the National Disaster Management Organisation to take urgent steps to address the plight of victims of yesterday's flooding in Accra and other areas as a result of heavy rains.

At least five persons died in floods in Accra and several buildings and property were destroyed as a result of the flooding, which was particularly severe in the capital and Kpong in the Eastern Region. President Mills who is currently attending a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and also sympathised with the injured and those whose property were damaged by the floods, a statement signed by deputy Information Minister James Agyenim-Boateng said.

EP Church to process and export local foods

Accra, June 20, GNA - Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana, on Saturday held a rally in Accra to raise funds towards the establishment of a resource centre, which would process local food items for export. Some of the local foods to be processed include "yakayeke", "agbelikakle", gari, "akple", "abolo", cooked beans and fried plantain and many other others. Most of these foods are common among people in the Volta Region.

Reverend Mrs Nyuieme Adiepona, Coordinator of the women group in the Church said land had already been acquired at Mobole, near Afienya in the Greater Accra region for work to begin on the centre. She said the aim was to discourage the sale of such food items by children on the streets and pedestrians walkways. Rev. Mrs Adiepona said children especially girls, who sell these items, exposed themselves to risks of being knock down by vehicles or taking advantage by unscrupulous men. She said the project would group the women into splinter groups to produce different food items. Rev. Mrs Adiepona said local food products from the EP food-processing centre would be produced under strictly hygienic condition.

Dr Mrs Comfort Sowa Akpabey, who chaired the function, said women were the most poor, formed the majority of the illiterate population but resourceful when little capital was given them. She said a lot of women were not able to afford three square meals a day and that some women were losing even their one meal a day to their children because of insufficiency of food. She told women to strive hard to generate income to augment what their husbands provide at home because when things became difficult they were the most affected.