Residents of Mpakadan Quarters, a Volta River Authority (VRA) resettlement township in the Eastern Region have expressed worry over the threat posed to the community by the devastating effects of erosion caused by flash floods, threatening lives and property.
The situation has resulted in the collapse of several buildings over the years with one reportedly killing a 6-year-old student.
GhanaWeb during its visit observed that most houses had collapsed, forcing occupants to relocate to other areas of the community.
Deep gullies caused by the erosion run through the community, affecting some access roads and transportation activities.
The farming community of some 2000 residents say their pleas over the years through the Asuogyaman District Assembly for government’s intervention to curtail the perennial erosion had yielded no results.
A visit by GhanaWeb to the community Thursday revealed that various homes were suffering multiple erosion attacks, destroying households and rendering people homeless.
Flash floods run through households in the community due to the absence of gutters, washing away the top soil holding foundations of buildings in the process,
The result is many of the houses currently stand frailly on skeletal foundations with the risk of collapsing at any time.
The residents were part of several occupants who moved to various locations in the country in 1963 to make way for the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
Assemblyman for Mpakadan, Honourable Leo Oscar in an interview with GhanaWeb expressed regret at the situation.
“In my area here, erosion is worrying us, the rains have caused extensive damage to our roads making transportation in the community very difficult. It is also collapsing our buildings,” said the Assemblyman.
Standing next to one of the collapsed buildings, he said, “Formerly, this building was a complete building where people lived but the erosion has caused damage so people can’t live here again and they have gone to rent elsewhere.”
He called on the relevant authorities to come on board and help address the problem.
“I am pleading with the Assembly, the VRA and the government, this is the problem that we are facing so they should come to our aid to address this problem for us. They should come and renovate the buildings so that the people can live in their houses,” he appealed.
A resident, 70-year-old Elizabeth Avoka was one of the residents relocated to the community fifty-eight years ago. About two feet depth of soil has been washed away from her house, leaving it with the risk of collapsing at any time.
“Since moving here in 1963, we have suffered years of erosion and we have nowhere else to go,” said the old woman.
Though she suffers acute pains in the leg, she has no option but to climb the high steps to her room, occasioned by the erosion.
Showing GhanaWeb the previous level of the foundation, she said, “Formerly, this was the level of the ground but now erosion has washed everything down here and the height has made it difficult for us to climb to our rooms.”
Fearing that the house could collapse on her anytime soon, she laments that the situation “is making things difficult” for her and she called on the VRA to come on board and provide assistance for them.
“Yes, the house could collapse at any time,” said Madam Elizabeth adding that though she is financially handicapped, she has plans to move out of the house before the inevitable happens.
Another, 60-year-old Theresa Mikado who has also lived here since 1963 shared similar sentiments with GhanaWeb.
She also called on government to come and repair their homes for them as erosion is devastating their homes.
An opinion leader, Moses Fiagbor said, “In fact, the erosion has affected our community very badly because the time we came here, the buildings were not like this but the erosion has taken off our roads and then spread throughout the town, damaging our buildings.”
He called on the VRA and the government to come to the aid of the people by constructing drainages and access roads in the town to check the erosion.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Volta River Resettlement Fund which is aimed at providing socio-economic interventions and economic empowerment solutions to the 52-resettlement townships, Mr. Richard Twum Barimah when contacted by GhanaWeb said erosion was a major problem facing all of its resettlement towns across the country but said the Fund was handicapped in its ability to provide any form of assistance to the people.
“Erosion is one of the issues confronting our Resettlement Townships. Unfortunately, our current mandate does not allow us to assist them in that direction,” asserted the CEO.
He however expressed the readiness of the Fund to assist the affected residents but urged them to make a formal appeal to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the government.
“The only thing we can do is to assist [them] in appealing to VRA and government through the Assemblies. They can write to us,” he averred.
