By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Oct. 18, GNA – The Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG) has called for the immediate dredging of the Ada estuary to reduce flooding in communities due to the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.
Thousands of residents have been displaced as their homes, livelihoods, businesses, schools, hospitals, and farms, among others, have been submerged under the huge volumes of water being spilled from the dam for days.
Residents either have relocated to settle with relatives elsewhere or are living in temporary camps as the water has taken over their communities in the Volta River Authority (VRA) spillage.
Mr. Daniel Ameduame Sotei, the National Financial Secretary of CaFGOAG, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema that the Ada estuary must urgently be dredged deep and wide.
Mr. Sotei, who is also a Marine Navigator stressed that “the estuary must be dredged wide and very deep for the flow of water from the communities to enter the open sea more easily.”
He explained that since water occupied space, creating the needed space in the estuary would reduce the amount of water remaining in the communities as the spillage continues.
The Reverend Herbert Kwaku Nuworkpor, an Executive Member of CaFGOAG, reiterating the need for the dredging, said the estuary was currently silted and therefore not performing its function well.
Rev. Nuworkpor, who is also a fishing net owner at a Keta, said that because of the silt, the flood water could not move in large volumes into the open sea, leading to the retention of the water in the communities downstream of the Volta River.
The CaFGOAG executives added that, apart from reducing the effect of the spillage in the communities, dredging of the estuary would also enable the fish to freely swim there and lay eggs to replenish the fish stock.
They also advocated the construction of a harbour at the estuary to provide economic opportunities and help prevent the frequent canoe accidents that occur around the area.
GNA