Fisherfolks at Amedeka, a fishing community near Akuse in the Eastern Region are unhappy with the decision of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to ward them off fishing “very close” to the Kpong Hydro Plant, citing security concerns as reasons.
The fishermen and residents who are challenging this decision say fishing which remains their only source of livelihood in the face of high unemployment rate in the community was being affected.
The directive, according to the aggrieved fisherfolks will deprive them of the bumper harvest they get from fishing very close to and under the installation as the fishes hide under the tunnels of the dam, contrary to the open Lake where the catch is very low.
The VRA has for the past two weeks reportedly banned fishing activities near the hydroelectric power plant, leaving several fisherfolks who depend on the activity as their main and only occupation bitter.
65-year-old James Djetse told GhanaWeb that he’s been fishing on the Lake for about half of his life and served as his family’s sole source of income over the years.
“This problem as the VRA has said is going to cause havoc to us the fishermen because we have been fishing here before the dam was built so as we’ve been fishing, it’s become our profession. This is what we use to feed our children, pay their school fees so as they say we should not come there, what are we going to do?” he asked.
The veteran fisherman who appealed to the Authority to “spare” them said “there would be no catch” if the decision is not reversed.
Another fisherman who has been fishing for the past six years and gave his name as Raymond expressed disappointment in the Volta River Authority for failing to inform the fishermen ahead of its decision.
He averred that engaging the community ahead of its plans would have eased their concerns.
“It is going to cause us a very big harm because that is the only way we feed on…when they were coming they couldn’t inform us. I believe one thing that whenever you want to set off somebody, you go a long way and inform the person before but they just came and said it’s having an immediate effect from today,” lamented Raymond, adding that the fisherfolks have no other work aside fishing.
Thirty-year-old Gladys Gamor, a mother of seven and a fishmonger also said the ban was taking a toll on her business and that of others whose trade depended on fish supplied by the fisherfolks, a situation which would make catering for her children difficult.
Assemblyman for Amedeka Electoral Area and himself a fisherman, Richard Kwabla Gamor in an interview with GhanaWeb argued that the ban would have adverse conditions on the people.
“Previously, our forefathers normally fished at where they put the Kpong generation station and normally, they used to fish close to the dam which the VRA said the place is not good for them to be fishing around so they shouldn’t be going closer to the dam.
“The concerns of the people are, you put the dam over here, they don’t benefit in any way from the VRA. They mentioned scholarships, where is the scholarship?” asked the Assemblyman.
He also accused the VRA of failing to consider indigenes of the community for employment opportunities in the facility, and instead choosing to employ “outsiders.”
He complained: “The concerns of the community members are, they should come to the communities, if maybe their education level is down and they want to employ the carpenters, they can have carpenters here, masons…drivers, even the labourers.”
