The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has called on the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr Freda Prempeh, to seek more accurate and informed information about the spillage from the Akosombo dam before making any statement concerning it.
According to him, the Minister demonstrated a certain lack of understanding of the issues on the ground.
The Minister of Sanitation, Freda Prempeh, said that despite extensive education and other initiatives undertaken by the government, the Volta River Authority (VRA), and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) from January 2023 to early September as the spillage approached, they continue to bear responsibility and criticism.
But Dafeamekpor in an interview with GhanaWeb noted that none of what the minister mentioned took place in the areas.
He stated that the minister’s comments came to provoke the affected communities rather than inform them.
“Look, we are children of the area, and we are MPs for the area. We are here nearly every weekend. Nothing like that happened. And so, if there is a crisis, it is important that we come together, deal with the ramifications of the issues that created the crisis then we can deal with the problems that arose out of that. But to speak in such a manner as it were, to provoke the victims of the spillage, as well as the victims of the flood, is most unfair.
“I can forgive her, because we are the people in distress. So, I can't be fighting her in the media. I can only encourage her to seek more information if she is minded to speak on this matter. Because she completely demonstrated a certain lack of understanding of the issues on the ground. And she should also not listen to roadside talks, because these are serious ideological matters that have a certain pattern of happenings,” he said.
Dafeamekpor provided additional context to the situation, explaining the historical patterns of spillage from the Akosombo Dam.
“Per VRA’s own data, as at December 31, 2022, the lake level was around 277.12 ft. Mind you the maximum is 278 ft. It means the lake was half a foot shy of being at the brim. So, when we entered January this year, VRA had always known that the lake levels were such that they needed to spill. Now, the question is, were we informed about the spillage, Yes. But the nature of the notice was a normal spilling.
“Mind you, this is not the first time the lake has been spilled. It was spilled in 1986 and 1987, 1989, 1991, 1999. It was again spilled in 2010, 2011 and then this one. So, there is a whole protocol on spillage, there is a whole department in managing the lake level and spilling. Again, it is not Akosombo that gets here, when you spill the Akosombo dam, you fill up the Kpong dam. It is when the Kpong dam cannot take the spillage from the Akosombo that the Kpong is also compelled to spill,” he noted.
He continued: “So, Freda, the people in Mepe, there are some houses that have been built for over 50 years, but they've never been inundated. There are homes that are over 70 years old, they also have never been inundated. Per the records, spillage has taken place several times by VRA. That is why we are saying that this particular spillage didn't follow the laid down protocols. To Provoke us, and say that you even conducted a simulation and asked our people to relocate to which ground, there was no simulation."
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