Hon. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze, Member of Parliament for the Central Tongu Constituency, has indicated that 34 communities in the constituency have been affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.
Hon. Hottordze pointed out that the Central Tongu Constituency is home to approximately 9,714 persons, and that 904 houses were affected by the floods.
Speaking at the Public Hearing on the Akosombo Dam Spillage in Parliament on Monday, August 26, 2024, he stated that the September 2023 floods affected 48 persons with disabilities and 1,015 elderly individuals.
“On that day, the DCE, the chief, and myself quickly set up two camps for the people. One located at the Farm Institute at Adidome and one located at New Bakpa. We didn’t know what to do so we brought in the media”.
“It was then we saw VRA and NADMO brought some few items but very few foodstuffs so things were extremely difficult. But with our appeal from national television, things started coming in especially, from benevolent organizations and NGOs”.
Hon. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze
Hon. Hottordze noted that, unlike many instances, in the case of the Central Tongu constituency, he and the office of the District Chief Executive worked hand-in-hand.
He stated that what he found disappointing was that, despite the appointment of a thirteen-member ministerial committee to handle the disaster, the committee had not reached out to the constituency.
The MP indicated that this was despite the days of preparation made in readiness for a possible meeting with the said committee, led by the chiefs of the various affected communities.
Hon. Hottordze further stated that the Chiefs of Tongu – North, Central, and South – had established another committee, funded by the MPs and DCEs of the three respective constituencies, to investigate the effects of the flood.
He noted that the committee’s efforts were rendered useless since the ministerial committee failed to show up, resulting in the affected people only relating their issues to the press, MPs, and DCEs, rather than directly to the government or its committee.
Government Fails To Address Dam Spillage Damage
Furthermore, Hon. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze noted that, to date, the government has failed to either ascertain or replace properties destroyed by the Akosombo Dam spillage.
Hon. Hottordze maintained that the aquaculture farms and businesses, as well as the nets of fisher folks (since a majority of Central Tongu constituents are fishers), were destroyed.
He detailed that barns containing foodstuff, especially maize, farmlands with crops on them, and other personal artifacts were flooded and subsequently lost in the flood.
“As we speak, our people remain hungry [and] they are getting starved. The relief items that came in could only take them to a point. The person who is inundated with a lot of complaints is the chief. The DCE is chased to the office, ‘We are hungry’. The situation is still like that”.
“There are some efforts that are being made [and] some projects have sprung up. That is the one [funded] by the Common Fund, the fifty-unit housing project. We have started at three places and are being contracted by construction ambassador”.
Hon. Alexander Roosevelt Hottordze
Hon. Hottordze further noted that the Central Tongu constituency is also benefiting from the initiative of the Works and Housing Ministry.
He indicated that, although a few difficulties are being encountered, the Chiefs and the DCE have met with some indigenes who have agreed to give out their plots of land for the project to kick-start.
The MP also stated that the government has recently provided some fertilizers and weedicides to the constituency for farmers in the affected areas.
However, he noted that the current challenge is that farmers lack the funds to plow their farms and cultivate, rendering the government’s distribution of fertilizers and weedicides useless.
Hon. Hottordze lamented the VRA’s failure to involve Members of Parliament from the affected areas in its decision to spill the dam last September.
However, he noted that the VRA has recently reached out to the various MPs regarding its decision to carry out a controlled spillage soon.
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