The Minister of Defence, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, has assured surviving victims of last week’s flood and fire disaster, receiving treatment at the 37 Military Hospital, of the necessary medical care until they are fully healed and discharged.
He said the victims needed such a support to reduce the trauma that accompanied the disaster.
He gave the assurance during a visit to the hospital to emphathise with the victims and find out how they were responding to treatment.
The facility is one of the public healthcare institutions treating the victims of the disaster, in which at least 160 people were reported dead.
So far, 43 persons have been treated and discharged, while 21 are still receiving treatment at the hospital.
The victims at the nine-bed Tamakloe Ward of the hospital suffered various degrees of injuries.
Briefing the media after the tour of the hospital, Dr. Kunbuor said government was committed to ensuring that the victims were given the necessary support as they went through the healing process.
According to him, the situation had compounded the pressure on the hospital, but assured that it would not affect government’s commitment to have the patients treated.
He said the hospital had since the incident, become a referral centre for other facilities, especially private ones which were charging the victims exorbitantly for their services.
Proffering a solution to avert the reoccurrence, of such incidents in the future, Dr. Kunbuor advised against the apportioning of blame and called for a national dialogue to deal with Accra’s flooding situation which had become an annual affair.
“I do not think we should be apportioning blames to individuals and institutions. Ghanaians are to be blamed because all the people creating the flood situation are Ghanaians.
“Unfortunately, sometimes when we have to take the difficult decisions, segments of the media do not share in our methods of handling these things and these are the consequences.”
He said a time would come for people, both at policy making portfolios and the ordinary citizens, to take responsibility for their negligence and the irresponsibilities.
The Acting Director of Public Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt.-Colonel Eric Aggrey Quashie, said the conditions of the patients were improving.
He said 45 out of the deceased deposited at the hospital’s morgue, had been identified by their relatives, and appealed to those who might suspect their loved ones to be involved in the tragedy to go to the hospitals to identify them.
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