The Public Relations Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), David Prah, has revealed that the Authority is currently putting in place plans to enable it relocate settlers along the White Volta in the North East Region to protect them against floods and also the spillage of the Bagre Dam.
He announced this after officials of the VRA donated relief items to victims of the Bagre Dam spillage and floods in the Northern Region on Thursday, September 17.
Reports indicate that the spillage from the Bagre Dam coupled with torrential rains in northern Ghana has so far killed 11 people.
Hundreds of farmlands have also been submerged, a situation that has adversely affected livelihoods while several homes have also been destroyed.
Mr Prah told journalists that the Authority is currently assessing and valuing farm lands, buildings and other properties that have been affected by the floods.
He explained that the move is also to completely move these people from the lowland settlement to high grounds as the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam, which is to be completed in four years, begins.
“As we are all aware the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam Project is a three-key project . The first one is 60MW hydro power project and then the second one is also critical that is the 50MW solar facility and then the third one is the mega one which is the 2,400 hectare square irrigation facility. These three come together to form the Pwalugu Multipurpose dam project.
“What we are doing is to look at the valuation of the properties in the demarcated areas. So all the lands, buildings, farms and other properties that are in the dam boundaries we are assessing them currently.
“It is critical to help us prepare the RAP so this issue of flooding will be a thing of the past. Because we are going to take the people within the low-lying areas from there and we will settle, them to a different place. So they will not be affected, let alone be killed.”
By Laud Narrey|3news.com|Ghana