Member of Parliament, (MP) for Krachi West, Helen Adjoa Ntoso has called on the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection to show some sense of care for affected parents and children following the Askosombo dam spillage.
The Akosombo dam spill has seen over 26,000 residents in the lower Volta Region displaced, with farmlands, other valuable properties destroyed.
Speaking in an interview, Madam Helen Adjoa Ntoso said this is the time for the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection to prove their care for women and children who are obviously the most affected ones.
According to the Krachi West MP, women and children are always affected more when disaster occur and there the Ministry of Gender must show up and provide the needs of these affected parents and children.
Madam Helen Adjoa Ntoso also criticized the Volta River Authority (VRA) for not coming up with a better resettlement plan for the residents in the lower Volta Region before they spilled the dam.
Akosombo, Kpong Dams Spillage: Gender Ministry must show sense of care – Helen Adwoa Ntoso, Krachi West MP#UTVNews pic.twitter.com/rpT2juhlnq
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) November 10, 2023
Relatedly, according to Minister of Energy Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the government does not currently have any plans in place to resettle the people who were displaced by the controlled spillage of excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong Dams,
The Energy Minister claims that there are no immediate plans for relocation because the government has already established an inter-ministerial committee that is still in operation and under stress until its task is finished.
On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, the Energy Minister spoke to Parliament regarding the Volta River Authority’s spill and the ensuing destruction.
In response to some relevant questions from the press following the spill, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh stated that most people impacted by the spill had previously been found as a result of similar incidents, but he also emphasized that they always come back when the water recedes.
The Energy Minister claimed that if they hadn’t made a decision at that moment, the dam’s integrity would have been jeopardized, and the outcome might have been worse.