The Volta River Authority (VRA) has disclosed that it has spent over GH¢20 million on relief items for residents affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.
According to the Authority, the amount was used to purchase foodstuffs, mattresses, and medical supplies among others for the affected victims.
Engineer Ken Arthur, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), stated that the organization is making every effort to improve the situation of the more than 36,000 individuals impacted by the spill.
“VRA has also committed GH¢20 million to alleviate the adverse impacts on the affected communities as a result of the unavoidable spillage of excess water into the Akosombo Dam”.
Engineer Ken Arthur
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority further indicated that the Volta River Authority (VRA) will continue to monitor the flood situation and provide the needed support together with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the other relevant agencies to ensure the well-being of the affected communities.
According to him, the Volta River Authority would ensure that no victim of the Akosombo and Kpong dams’ spillage-induced flood is abandoned in such a devastating situation.
VRA Denies Claims Of Non-Engagement Ahead Of Dams’ Spillage
Again, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority, Engineer Ken Arthur debunked claims that its outfit failed to undertake sensitizations before the spillage of the dams.
He noted that the Volta River Authority put measures in place to sensitize residents ahead of the spillage of the dams’.
“We took all the necessary steps to ensure that the Dam was not compromised, and we had all the emergency preparedness protocols in place to forewarn the potentially affected persons before the spill event started. I can say that it is the reason we have not recorded any casualties because the potentially affected persons had enough time to move away from the dangerous places.”
Engineer Ken Arthur
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pru East, Dr Kwabena Donkor, has warned against a possible food shortage in the country in 2024 as a result of the flood occasioned by the overflow of the Volta Lake .
Speaking in a media interview on Tuesday, October 24 2023, the former Power Minister, Dr. Kwabena Donkor indicated that the flooding is so severe that entire communities have been submerged.
He explained that the flooding resulting from the dams’ spillage has destroyed several farmlands in the affected communities threatening a possible famine in the year ahead.
“Health infrastructure, clinics, schools, etc. have all been flooded. And so there is not just the humanitarian end of it; there is also the medical, public health end of it, and the educational end of it. In my constituency, schools have had to shut down because they have been submerged. What exacerbates the situation is that in Pru, Oti, Bono East, Savannah, and Northern, farmlands have also been flooded, so there is a possibility of serious food inadequacy and food insecurity going forward next year 2024 because farmlands have been flooded and the crops have not survived.”
Dr. Kwabena Donkor, MP Pru East
Moreover, Dr Kwabena Donkor revealed that the inundation of the communities along the lake began as far back as between June and July 2023 but was not been taken seriously because there was not any coverage of the situation.
This follows the flooding of communities along the bank of the Volta Lake as a result of the lake having its bank broken by excess water inflow.
Nearly, two weeks after the Akosombo and Kpong dams’ spillage began to flood communities in the Volta, Greater Accra and Eastern Region, reports indicate that over twenty-six thousand people have been displaced with many properties destroyed.
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