Minister tells Ghanaians
Minister for Special
Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson has said Ghanaians should blame the
quality of dams being constructed under the ‘One Village One Dam’ project on
the budget allocated to her ministry to take care of the projects.
The minister, who has been heavily criticised for the poor
quality of dams being built under her watch in the 5 regions of the north, said
although the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised to build dams in
villages to help with irrigation farming, they did not promise “meaninful dams”.
According to the Minister who is also the MP for Awutu Senya
East in the Central Region, the cost of the dams being constructed amount to
about 250,000 cedis which she said cannot build the dams Ghanaians expect from
the Akufo-Addo government.
“We [NPP] said one village, one dam. We didn’t say…one
village, one Bui dam or Akosombo dam…Look at the cost, 250,000 Ghana cedis
if you are constructing a meaningful dam you don’t need anything less than 3 million dollars; 3 million dollars oo, not Ghana cedis,” he told journalists in Parliament.
In a video footage of an interview granted by Madam Koomson, that has gone viral on social media and infuriating Ghanaians due to the Minister’s posture, she questioned why some Ghanaians would complain about the poor quality of dams being constructed by the Akufo-Addo government when the funding is small.
“…if I’m constructing a 250,000 Ghana [cedis] dam, then what kind of dam are you expecting from me?” she asked.
Poor Quality (Dug-Outs) Dams
Recently, some residents
in some of the areas where the dams are being constructed expressed
reservations about the nature of the dams. Some said the work done in the area
was shoddy and are not fit for agricultural purposes.
Some residents of the Upper East region have also begun
questioning the quality of dams that have been constructed for them.
According to the residents who spoke to A1 Radio’s Joshua
Asaa, what has been constructed are not dams but dugouts.
The
Zuarungu Gono Dam
Reports state the Upper East region was allocated 140 of the
dams promised, however, only 40 are said to have been constructed in all the 15
municipalities and districts.
In Bongo and Bolgatanga the residents said the dams had
become death traps having claimed six lives in the two areas.
But the Upper East Regional Minister, Paulina Patience
Abayage who spoke the Joy News reporter expressed regrets about the deaths
recorded at the project sites and vowed not to sign contract certificates for
the dams that have defects.
“Some of them have been defective. Two of them have come to
my attention so far; one in Kajelo in the Kassena-Nankana West District and one
in Soe in the Bolga Municipality,” the Minister said.
But Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in his defense,
said the dams were not to built like the Akosombo dam.
“With reference to the model of the dams being constructed,
it must be noted that the beneficiary communities, in requesting for the dams,
did not request an Akosombo-like type of dam. The model and specification of
dams requested for under this programme are the exact type known to the people
in the beneficiary communities,” he said at a press conference last month .
Below are photos of some of the dams constructed as the 1V1D projects.
For the benefit of our readers:
Definition of Dam;
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A dam is a large wall or barrier that blocks or stops the flow of water, forming a reservoir or a lake. Most dams have a section called a spillway or weir over which, or through which, water flows, either sometimes or always.
Below are some examples of a standard dam
