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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated the Akufo-Addo government’s commitment to ending perennial floods in the Upper East and Northeast regions.
Many communities in these regions have suffered devastating floods over the years as a result of the annual spill of the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso, and President Akufo-Addo promised to build a dam in Pawlugu to contain the situation.
This year’s chaos, which hit the regions this week, has been most devastating as a result of combined factors from the Bagre Dam spill in Burkina Faso and days of heavy rain in northern Ghana, causing the loss of 10 people and the loss of crops of farmers and animals.
Addressing the press during an assessment visit to the Kubore Zebila-Bawku highway, which has seen parts washed away by heavy flooding on Thursday, September 10, 2020, Dr. Bawumia said that the flooding has devastated communities for years and has to There is a permanent solution, hence the decision of the Akufo-Addo government to invest massively in the Pawlugu Dam to help address the problem.
“At the end of the day, this is a problem that we have been experiencing year after year and the question that I am sure is on every Ghanaian’s mind is what are we doing about it?” Dr. Bawumia said.
“Basically, we have understood that to fundamentally address this problem, we need to have flood control in the context of the Pawlugu Dam.”
“That is the most important antidote to all of these. That is why we have moved to secure the Pawlugu dam project, and this project is the largest dam project we have in the northern region.”
“It is the largest investment in northern Ghana since independence; it is approximately $ 1 billion and the contractors are in place.”
The vice president said that prior to the flood, contractors had already started cleaning the site down to the river.
He added that with the flooding, contractors would have to wait for the flood to subside and then divert the water for the work to continue.
On the washing of the parts of the Kubore road that make it inaccessible, the vice president said that the Ghana Roads Authority is waiting for the water to go down before contractors move to the site to repair the bridge and reconnect. road”.
Government condolences to the victims
Dr. Bawumia expressed the government’s condolences to the families of the ten people who died and to the farmers who lost their livestock and crops.
“It is a disaster and a very sad situation. Unfortunately we have lost their lives, about ten people, they have told me, have lost their lives. On behalf of the President, I express the government’s sympathy to the families of the victims,” said the Vice President .
Dr. Bawumia added: “A lot of farmers have lost their livestock and their crops. They have lost a lot of their crops and for farmers, when you lose your crop, that’s a year’s income, so we have to find a way. to protect these farmers, they have to find a way to bring relief to farmers to help them. ”
Dr. Bawumia is on a working tour of the northern regions of Ghana and has stopped his original program for his first day in the Upper East Region on Thursday 10 September 2020, to tour the affected areas and the people to gain first-hand knowledge of the extent of the disaster.
The Vice President was accompanied by Upper East Regional Minister Patience Tangoba Abayege, Home Secretary Ambrose Derry, Vice Minister for Roads and Highways Anthony Karbo, as well as NADMO National and Regional Directors.
