Outbreaks of disease feared

As seasonal rains begin to fall across West Africa, health officials in Togo fear outbreaks of malaria and cholera as people wade in filthy water up to their chests to go about their daily lives.

Sources at Lome’s main Tokoin hospital say about 10 people a day have sought treatment for cholera since 20 June. Health officials are urging people to wash food thoroughly to avoid disease.

The flooding has pushed more than 100 families, including some 600 children, out of their homes in the neighbourhoods of Agoe Zongo and Silidji.

Needs were assessed at nearly US $140,000, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Food, shelters, blankets, treated mosquito nets, school books and other items will be provided by the UN Development Programme, World Food Programme and other UN agencies.

Thousands of people have been affected by the flooding. Water contaminated with garbage and sewage has washed over roads, torn up asphalt, carried away people’s belongings and temporarily destroyed the livelihoods of some.

“When my daughter and I were trying to save the merchandise that I sell we had to pass through water up to our knees but we lost our balance and fell,” said Jeannette Gbamane, who sells soap, sugar, peanuts and other sundries.

“There are people who have lost everything because the force of the water is very strong,” said Social Affairs Minister Kanny Sokpo Diallo. “The water has washed away houses, cooking utensils, beds, clothing and poultry.”

As the floodwaters rose in the neighborhood of Silidji, driver Kodjovi Dassi said he had just enough time to save a few things from his home but the water carried away his mattresses and cooking utensils. “I have been living here for 10 years and I’ve never seen this,” he said. “We’ve had water up to our necks.”

Main transport routes, including the highway leading to the border with Ghana, have been severely damaged.

Many children lost their notebooks to the rushing flood waters, just as final exams were beginning for many of them.

Low-lying neighbourhoods have been the worst hit. Residents, in part, blame poor infrastructure for the seriousness of the flooding. Poor drainage has swelled ditches with garbage and sewage and a fetid odour fills the air. Mould has begun growing in places where water has receded.

“For the moment what we are going to do is conduct humanitarian action at the places where the population is affected before finding, in collaboration with technicians, definitive solutions to the problem,” Diallo said. “We are going to provide them with necessities, food, notebooks, clothing, medicine and places where they can stay.”

jeg/cs/ccr