Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Freda Prempeh, has expressed her discontent over the blame games currently happening as far as the repurcussions of the Akosombo Dam spillage is concerned.
The Minister said, Volta River Authority (VRA), the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and the Water Resources Commission (WRC) right from the beginning of the year, warned the affected residents of the impending spillage, and the need for their evacuation and relocation, however, “they refused to leave”.
She said “A stitch in time saves nine, we cannot sit back and allow situations like that …now people are blaming government, people are blaming VRA, people are blaming NADMO but these three institutions did a lot of education right from January till September,” she added.
“The Akosombo spillage even though VRA, NADMO, the Water Resources Commission came together to educate the people in the community, did simulation exercises with them even at Mepe, yet they refused to leave, they didn’t want to be evacuated”.
On her path, the “millions of money” the government is currently spending to resolve the current menace could have been avoided if the victims had headed to the warnings of the VRA, NADMO among others.
“They stayed on till the end when we started spilling, unfortunately, look at what is happening and government has to spend millions of money on relief items, education; the whole area, the water is contaminated,” she said at an event in Accra on October 23.
Amid all of this, she assured that the government however in collaboration with relevant agencies, is presently allocating funds to assist individuals who had chosen not to evacuate, despite warnings from the aforementioned agencies’ education, sensitizations and numerous warnings.
In mid-September, the Volta River Authority (VRA) initiated the discharge of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams to prevent the hydroelectric facility from potential collapse.
This water release resulted in a substantial deluge that swiftly inundated communities surrounding the dam, spanning several kilometers. It impacted eight districts across three constituencies: North, Central, and South Tongu.
To address the crisis, the government has established an inter-ministerial committee, led by the Chief of Staff, to oversee an emergency response.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo personally visited Mepe last week to gain a firsthand understanding of the situation.