VRA to appear before Parliament over dam spillage and flooding of communities

Parliament will invite officials of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to brief the House on the recent spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams, its repercussions and how to avoid future recurrence.

The invitation will enable Parliament to solicit answers to some begging questions.

The Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, told the media in Parliament last Tuesday before the start of the last meeting for the season that “as representatives of the people, we should show concern by dialoguing with the Speaker to know exactly what we will be able to do as a House to assist the affected people.”

He said the meeting with the VRA officials in the coming days was also to assess the structural integrity of the dams, especially the Akosombo Dam, the country’s single biggest hydroelectric dam, which, until recently, has supplied the country’s electricity needs since 1965.

Impact

The Majority Leader said the “impounded” water and its effect stretches as far as to Yeji and beyond.

“And if all the impounded water is going out within a week, the devastation will be dire and maybe about a quarter of the entire country will be gone; but we hope it does not happen,” he told the media.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Suame in the Ashanti Region, said the House was also worried that the situation could affect food prices and contribute to the already high food inflation in the country.

“People have lost properties, crops and even lives and this could contribute to the impoverishment of the people down south,” the Majority Leader observed.

He said it was for that reason Parliament wanted to intervene.

Displaced persons

At least, 26,000 people were displaced along the lower Volta Basin by the flood occasioned by the spillage.

Among communities devastated by the flood, parts of Battor, Sogakope, Mepe and many island communities in the Volta Region.

Source: graphic.com.gh