Local government analyst, Dr Fred Oduro has stated that the government was ill-prepared for the Akosombo Dam Spillage.
This comes on the back of assertion by the Sanitation, Madam Freda Prempeh that victims refused to heed to cautions to evacuate the area ahead of the spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong dams.
The Mepe Development Association has since strongly condemned the remark by the Minister.
During a discussion with a gathering in Accra, the Minister revealed that Mepe, one of the severely affected areas, had indeed received education from the Volta River Authority (VRA), National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), and the Water Resources Commission but chose to remain put until the spillage had already occurred, making it too late to take action.
According to the minister, if the residents had moved prior to the spillage the devastation would not have been this high where close to 30,000 people have been displaced.
But speaking on Starr Today with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, Dr. Oduro indicated that the government should have known the effect the dam spillage will cause to communities.
“It is typical of us as Ghanaians but disasters happen all over the world. In our case, I think we should be able to anticipate most of these things. Flooding, it’s something that happens to us virtually every year. Of course in the case of the Akosombo Dam Spillage it is not often that we do experience but it does happen.
“Every now and then within a decade it does occur. So I will have thought that as part of the disaster management plan. The district should have indicated the kind of need they expected and they should have worked together at the national level. To put contingency plans in place to come to the needs of our people whenever such occurrences happen. But unfortunately they didn’t,” Dr. Oduro stated.
He continued: “Even if you compare the Bagri dam spillage in the Northern part of Ghana and this is something we expect virtually every year. We are so ill-prepared whenever they occur. So for the Akosombo dam spillage which does not occur frequently as the Bagri dam spillage, we are so badly prepared.”
Dr. Oduro however advised that the government to relook at disaster management in the country.