Ghana donates relief items to Hurricane Melissa

Ghana has dispatched a consignment of relief items to support populations affected by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and Cuba, and those suffering from the ongoing conflict in The Sudan.

The donation, made on behalf of the nation by President John Dramani Mahama at a brief ceremony at the Jubilee House yesterday, is worth GH¢10 million.

It includes 2,400 bags of made-in-Ghana rice from Adidome in the Volta Region, 540 bags of sugar, assorted clothes, mattresses, made-in-Ghana cocoa products and water tanks.

Present at the ceremony were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, some members of the diplomatic corps and senior government officials.

Solidarity

President Mahama indicated that the decision stemmed from Ghana’s solidarity with the affected people in their time of need.

The consignment highlights the use of locally produced goods, notably the Adidome rice, which is a product of Ghana’s domestic agricultural sector.

The items are being sent to the respective countries through a coordinated effort by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

Hurricane, impact

Hurricane Melissa happened as an extremely powerful, erratic and catastrophic tropical cyclone.

It became the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, tied with the 1935 Labour Day hurricane, but as the most intense landfall in the Atlantic basin.

As a catastrophic Category 5 storm, it made landfall over New Hope in Jamaica, with wind speeds of 185 miles per hour.

The storm caused widespread damage, hospital evacuations, and flooding across the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands, where fatalities were reported, according to the US State Department.

The storm’s path also included The Bahamas and Bermuda, the US agency added.

President Trump consequently authorised an immediate US response, directing the Department of State to mobilise support for affected communities, the State Department further stated.

The US State Department said it had since been collaborating with United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations and host of governments to deliver food, water, medical supplies, hygiene kits, temporary shelter and search and rescue support.