The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Freda Prempeh has said the victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage should take some of the blame for the devastation.
She stated that despite multiple warnings from the Volta River Authority, inhabitants in the impacted towns refused to evacuate.
Speaking during a forum organised by Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and its customers in Accra, Freda Prempeh said, “The Akosombo dam spillage, even though Volta River Authority, National Disaster Management Organisation, the Water Resources Commission, came together to educate the people in the community and did simulation exercises with them even at Mepe, yet, they refused to leave. They did not want to be evacuated, and they stayed there till the end when we started spilling.”
“Unfortunately, look at what is happening, and the government has to spend millions of money on relief items, and education. The water in the whole area is contaminated and the Ghana Water Company and Water Resources Commission will have to spend millions of money to treat the water before we can pass it through our pipes. So a stitch in time saves nine. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept the situation, but we will plead with all of you to accept it as it is. Water is life and is essential to everything”.
Over 20,000 people have been relocated as a result of the dam disaster in the Volta and Greater Accra areas.
The spillage has since wreaked havoc on homes and farmlands, particularly those along the Volta River’s banks.