The Loho Dam project, being executed by the Galson Company, started in February 2020 and is expected to be completed in July 2021.
It was to rehabilitate an existing dam constructed about two decades ago to improve water retention.
Speaking to the media in Wa on Wednesday, Mr. Benjamin Kobina Kunfiri Bukari, the Assembly Member for the Loho Electoral Area, blamed the incident on the delay in opening the dam’s spillway.
He said the situation was of great concern to the community as the dam would not be able to hold water for the dry season.
He said the dam served as a source of water for the community during the dry season farming, an alternative source of income and livelihood.
Mr. Bukari said livestock in the area also depended on the dam while some people also used the water for domestic activities such as laundering.
“You know people do gardens and farm around the dam, so the water swept away the farms,” he added and appealed to benevolent individuals, organizations, and the government to assist the affected farmers.
Mr. Vitus Galaa, the Foreman in charge of the project, said the cause of the incident was not yet known and described it as “an unfortunate incident”.
“I am waiting for the project engineer so that we can know the cause of the incident.
When something like this happens, there are always a lot of theories, but as I speak now the cause is not yet known”, he explained.
Some residents also raised concerns about the incident and said it would impact negatively on their livelihood during the dry season.
In a swift reaction to the news on Thursday morning, Mr. David Kpodo said there could be no there reason for such an incident apart from low quality work done. Either the materials used in the construction of the Dam were inferior or of low quality or the contractor did not use the required quantity of materials.
He alleged that because Government appointees who award these contracts on behalf of the Government usually demand certain percentages from the total contract sum, the contractors end up finding other means to do the job with the remaining amount which may not be enough to do the job.
Mr. David Kpodo is the Greater Accra Deputy Regional Coordinator of Better Ghana Network, a network of volunteers committed to promoting the Socio-economic development of Ghana.
He, therefore, called on the District Assemblies, through their monitoring and evaluation departments to liaise with the various Assemblymen and women to properly monitor projects that are ongoing within their electoral areas.
Speaking with betterghanadigest.com, Mr. David Kpodo took the sympathized with the people of Loho electoral area and called on them to put pressure on the DCE of the area to deal with the issue as soon as possible.