The Volta River Authority (VRA), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), has donated relief items to communities in the Volta Region affected by the ongoing Akosombo and Kpong Dams’ water spillage exercise.
The items, comprising mattresses, blankets, various food items, clothes and toiletries, will help mitigate the difficulties being faced by communities which have been impacted adversely as a result of the intensified spill rate.
The communities hardest-hit include the Avadjiwokome and Siamekome islands, according to Thomas Moore Zonyrah, District Chief Executive Officer (DCE) for Central Tongu – who appealed for government to come to their aid.
“We have been able to acquire 400 capacity dormitory blocks for the victims. We are looking at the two island communities being the most affected for now,” he said.
“Aside from the relief items, we urgently need speed-boats to facilitate evacuation efforts. Many properties are totally submerged, including some bridges linking the villages – and the ECG has had to cut power supply to the affected communities in order to forestall any occurrences of electrocution as people attempt to salvage their properties,” the DCE noted.
The other communities affected are Mafi Dugame, Kebenu, Akpokofe, Atsemkope, Mafi Devime and parts of Duve among others. According to the DCE, the last time this level of damage was experienced was in 1963.
Ken Arthur, Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Services at VRA – presenting the items to NADMO for onward distribution to the communities, noted that the gesture is in keeping with VRA’s commitment to alleviate the plight of communities while monitoring the spill situation that has affected some communities in the lower Volta Basin.
He reiterated VRA’s resolve to continue working with NADMO and other stakeholders to monitor the situation and provide regular updates to the general public accordingly: “In line with its emergency preparedness plan and standard operating procedures, the authority notified its stakeholders – including the downstream communities – about the ongoing spillage exercise beforehand”.
He urged the riverine communities plagued by the spillage to heed advice of the district disaster management committees, and added that: “We are spilling from the dam to save its integrity. Water is a natural resource and we cannot control how it flows from the original source. What we are seeing now is that we have more than necessary, and therefore we have to spill some out to save the dam’s integrity. When we all coordinate the instructions that are coming through from NADMO, we will be able to go through this situation without worries.
The Director-General of NADMO, Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, receiving the items on behalf of the affected communities cautioned against politicisation of the spillage exercise, saying: “Let us not play politics with it, because it has nothing do with NPP or NDC; it has got to do with Ghana”.
As a long-term measure to minimise spillage effects, he underscored the need for Ghana to devise means of harvesting excessive water in its dams for the purposes of irrigation and power generation.
The exact number of people affected by the situation remains unknown. The presentation of relief items took place at a ceremony that was attended by the Municipal and District Chief Executives of Central Tongu, North Tongu, Keta and Anlo districts at Adidome in the Volta Region.
The VRA commenced the controlled spillage on September 15, 2023, due to a consistent rise in the inflow pattern and water level of the Akosombo reservoir.
