Independent presidential candidate and investment banker, Dr. Samuel Sarpong Ankra, has condemned the 1 village, 1 dam project by the New Patriotic Party administration.
He said it is a failure as a government to lay emphasis on building dams, particularly in the 21st century, claiming that such endeavours are an indication of misplaced focus and a lack of responsiveness to pressing issues.
Dr. Ankra, who spoke in an interview with Joy Prime’s Roselyn Felli on the Prime Morning show, slammed the vision of the Akufo-Addo-led government, which is to change the nature of Ghana’s economy from one that is dependent on the import and export of raw materials to one that is focused on the manufacturing, value addition, and export of processed goods through the ‘one district, one dam’ policy.
“The fact that you are building dams shows that you are a failed government. Why would you want to build a dam? Everybody should have access to clean water,” he said.
“But is the dam not going to give you clean water?” Roselyn Felli asked
“Well, I mean, you’re building dams and boreholes. The dams were more or less boreholes technically,” Dr. Ankra replied.
The business strategist argued that in the digital age, where technology offers sophisticated water management solutions, investing in traditional dam infrastructure may be outdated and environmentally unsafe. He believes every individual should have access to clean water.
In defence of his argument, Dr. Ankra, who doubles as a development economist, shared a story of an old woman lamenting at one of his campaign trills at Damango about the bad state of the pond in her community and how the government has offered little to no help all her years living there.
The woman, according to him, has lost trust in politicians because she has not benefited from politics. But he thinks “politics need to change the lifestyles of people,” adding that the government needs to avoid repeating the same developmental projects.
However, if the project is for agricultural purposes, the flagbearer says it is good.
He opined that though building dams may offer short-term solutions, they often come with long-term ecological and social consequences.
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