The government has budgeted an amount of GH¢220 million to provide relief support for the communities affected by the Akosombo Damspillage.
Although, the spillage affected residents of North, South and Central Tongu districts, the package also includes victims affected by the floods upstream in the Oti, Savannah, and Bono-East regions for the restoration phase.
Presenting the 2024 budget statement of government in Parliament yesterday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori -Atta stated that the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) would allocate additional resources to support the restoration of livelihoods in the communities.
He said the government had requested funding from the World Bank under the IDA Crisis Response Window (CRW) to support the resettlement of the victims, restoration of livelihoods, compensation and reconstruction of infrastructure in the affected communities.
The Minister said the government in recognition of the role and place of climate policy and financing was doing everything to help address the long-term effects of climate change on victims of drought, flooding and other adverse weather events.
Mr Ofori-Atta stated that the Ministry had also applied to the Global Shield Against Climate Risk Fund, an initiative launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, during the COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh, to access some financial resources to support communities upstream and downstream of the Akosombo Dam.
The Minister said the impact of the Akosombo Dam spillage followed excessive rainfall recorded in several parts of the country.
Mr. Ofori-Atta indicated that in order to preserve the structural integrity of the dam, the Volta River Authority commenced controlled spilling on September 15, 2023 leading to the flooding of downstream communities in parts of the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra regions adding that “the heavy rainfall also caused flooding upstream of the Akosombo Dam, and impacted communities in the Savanna, Oti, and Bono-East regions”.
He said the government through the Volta River Authority (VRA), National Disaster Management Organisation, and various agencies under the 13-member high level inter-ministerial committee, (comprising of the Ministries of Energy, Finance, Local Government, Environment, Interior, Health, Sanitation & Water Resources, Defence, Roads & Highways, Education, Information, Health, and Gender) have subsequently provided various forms of support to the impacted communities.
The supports the Minister indicated included food and related items, drinks, mattresses, mosquito nets and coils, clothes, baby food and diapers, sanitary pads, treated water and storage tanks, solar lamps, sanitation services, restoration of utility services, and some social infrastructure.
Following the budget presentation, Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who had championed the demand for compensation and resettlement for the victims, said, he would monitor to ensure that all the pledges by the government were fulfilled.
“It is heartwarming to acknowledge that government has made a specific commitment of GH¢220million for the relief phase as contained in the 2024 Budget to address the devastation caused by the recent VRA-induced floods.
“I also take judicial notice of pledges by the Finance Minister in Parliament for the restoration phase which include additional resources for the Ministry of Agriculture to support livelihoods, and a formal request to the World Bank under the IDA Crisis Response Window.May all these assurances translate into actual releases for adequate resettlement and compensation of my beloved constituents plus all those affected in other constituencies,” Mr Ablakwa shared on social media.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
