Gov't Goes To The Aid If Displaced Persons

Accra, June 24, - Cheques totalling 1.050 million cedis were yesterday presented to three families on behalf of the government by the Minister of the Interior, Nii Okaija Adamafio, in Accra. The families are those of Mr Jacob Danso, a 45-year-old official of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr John Aidoo Piasa, aged 42, an employee of GTMC, and Master Augustine Mawutor Agbemefle, eight-and-a-half-year-old pupil of the Forces Station School at Michel Camp. Mr Danso and Mr Piasa were drowned on June 12 after a downpour at Avenor and Ashaiman respectively while Agbemafle died on June 14 at Michel Camp. The families of Mr Danso and Mr Piasa received 400,000 cedis each while that of Agbemefle got 250,000 cedis. Nii Okaija, who is also the Chairman of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), presenting the cheques, said ''the government and the people express their condolences to the bereaved families and mourn with them during this tragic period''. He said the public is obliged by law and societal norms to take measures to mitigate the effects of these disasters and to comply with regulations regarding building in waterways and riverbeds because these laws are there to ensure the free flow of such water bodies. ''We should all take lessons from these losses and abide by these laws '', he added.