The South Dayi MP is asking the management of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to take responsibility for the aftermath of the controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region.
According to Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, what affected residents and victims need are interventions to mitigate and curtail the current state of havoc caused and not the shifting of blame among state institutions.
“The issue in contention remains the level of sensitization that was carried out in the communities along the river banks before this spillage. Engagement with people in these areas reveals inadequate sensitization.
“The VRA has slept on its responsibility and brought about this disaster that has befallen over 100 communities along the banks of the Volta Lake,” he insisted.
The assertion by the MP follows comments made by VRA after hundreds were displaced and homes were left flooded.
During an interview on Adom TV, VRA Public Relations Officer (PRO), Samuel Fletcher said the Ghana Meteorological Service was to blame for the devastation the spillage of the Akosombo dam has caused.
He explained that Ghana Meteo misled them with its prediction of the rainfall and drought pattern for the year.
“The forecast was that we may not get water this year, so we had to protect ourselves so we could produce electricity, but around July, we realised the situation was different, and that is the work of God no man can stop it.
“The excess water is not as a result of rains in Accra or Koforidua that come into the dam. But it is those from about six areas, including Mali, the North, and Burkina Faso, and once there is excess water, we need to spill,” he said.
However, the PRO for Ghana Meteo, Joshua Asamoah, also on Adom FM Midday News, disputed the claims.
Mr Asamoah explained that, they work closely with VRA, NADMO and the Geological Service and all these stakeholders provided adequate updates on the seasonal forecasting.
“No matter how the information is communicated, the interpretation sometimes becomes a challenge,” he added.
Backing this stance by Ghana Meteo, Mr. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor said “reasonable steps were expected to have been taken to spill water from the Akosombo Dam without causing devastation of the magnitude being experienced.
“This recent spillage has caused so much pain and anguish, destroyed homes, means of livelihoods, disrupted power supply, cut off means of travel, and taken over the homes of individuals within areas like North Tongu, Central Tongu, South Tongu, Keta among other places.”
He stressed that “at this material moment, no one is interested in who misled who.”
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo is set to visit the districts severely hit by the floods occasioned by the spillage.
The President, who returned to the country last night after a four-day official duty in the United States, will be joined by members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee set up by the government to help address the havoc caused downstream by the Akosombo Dam spillage and to help bring relief to those affected.
The tour will enable the President and the committee to assess the destruction caused by the flood and its effect on the people in the various communities.
The committee, headed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, is to coordinate government’s response to the spillage.
Aftermath of spillage
The floods have affected access to communities as roads have been cut off, leaving commuters stranded, with others resorting to the use of boats and canoes which further endanger their lives.
The most affected communities are in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region where the Akosombo Dam is located, and in the North, Central and South Tongu districts in the Volta Region.
Some residents of the South Tongu District capital, Sogakope, fear for the integrity of the Lower Volta Bridge, which spans the Volta River at Sogakope, due to the floodwaters which are less than five metres from the deck (the tarred portion) of the bridge.
Many houses have been swallowed by the raging floodwaters, with families relocating to put up with friends in other towns.
The floods have also claimed large parts of Tefle, Wume, Sokpoe and other communities along the river, while other settlements, including Alikekope, Agorme and Agbave, have been wiped off, leaving at least 500 people homeless.
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