Residents of Agbeve, a small village sandwiched between the South Tongu and Ada East districts in the Volta and Greater Accra regions respectively are livid with the authorities over what they have descibed as destruction of the ecosystem and the pollution of the river, their only source of livelihood by a Dutch dredging company contracted by the Volta River Authority (VRA) to carry out dredging activities in the lower Volta basin.
The visibly angry residents who poured out their frustrations to our news team during a visit to the community say they are unable to understand why an activity of such magnitude would be embarked upon without any community engagement or consultation with the community dwellers.
They suspect foul play saying they believe there is more to the so called dredging than meets the eye.
“We don’t believe in these dredging claim or whatever – these people may be prospecting for some mineral deposits under our water and hiding behind dredging for all you know,” One resident alleged.”
“Infact just within 24 hours of this dredging activity, the river, our source of drinking water has been muddied with dirt – you can see the colour of the water for yourself,” the resident added.
The community which the residents (mostly subsistence farmers and Oyster havesters) say has not seen any meaningful development over the years partly due to its geographical location and other factors has braced the odds to initiate self help projects like construction of classroom units for the community basic school, an ultra modern kindergarten unit with ancillary facilities, a water treatment plant (currently dormant due to the severe pollution of the water), a modern place of convinience, among others, with the people determined to do more for themselves.
The residents are therefore calling on government to come clean on the issue and immediately halt the operations of the Dutch vessel carrying out the dredging and impress upon the Volta River Authority to do the needful in the interest of peace. They claim that should the government fail to heed their call, they will be left with no option than to take matters into their own hands by resisting any further attempts by the dredging company to continue with its operations in that enclave.
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive for Ada East, Ms. Sarah Dugbakie Pobee, has asked the residents to exercise restraints as her outfit and the District Security council (DISEC) was working feverishly to resolve the impasse.
She said “the benefits of dredging the river far outway the disadvantages – this is a government project geared towards our own good and so lets be calm and dialogue to resolve any issues instead of the back and forth which would only drag us backwards as a people”.
The DCE assured the agrieved residents of government’s commitment to ensuring that the community gets its share of developmental projects.
By Leo Nelson