Former MP welcomes Parliament’s decision to summon VRA on dredging Volta estuary

Mr Clement Kofi Humado, a former Member of Parliament (MP) of Anlo Constituency, has welcomed the decision to summon Volta River Authority (VRA) to Parliament to explain its failure to dredge the Volta estuary.

Mr Isaac Asiamah, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, said the team would this week, invite the Authority to give reasons for neglecting its responsibility to dredge the Lower Volta Basin, particularly the estuary at Ada for years.

He made this known after he recently led the Committee to tour communities in the Volta Region’s three coastal districts of Ketu South, Keta and Anlo suffering the impacts of coastal flooding.

This was at the request of the Speaker of Parliament following several appeals by the MPs from the area for government intervention to secure the coastline.

During the visit, it came to light that VRA had for about eight years, failed to dredge the estuary, which was currently filled with silt and therefore contributed to the severe flooding that occurred along the eastern estuarine shoreline and the coastline during the recent controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.

Mr Humado, in an interview with Ghana News Agency, said the decision to haul VRA before the lawmakers was a good move that deserved commendation noting, the neglect of VRA to dredge the estuary had caused much harm.

“I wish I could retrieve copies of letters that I wrote severally to VRA on this subject for their neglect of duty over the past six or more years at the Volta estuary at Ada and Anyanui. This was the major cause of the flooding when VRA opened the spillways at Akosombo and Kpong last year.

We should know the whereabouts of their dredger vessel. My understanding is that it has been sold to a businessman who is refurbishing it for his business. Because the estuary is blocked, it has prevented the highway’s ferry from coming every Wednesday to the Anyanui Market.

The ferry used to bring traders and their wares every Wednesday from Ada (in Ada East) to the bustling Anyanui Market. This has resulted in the poor trade between Anloga, South Tongu and Ada East and adversely affecting volume of revenues from market tolls by the Anloga District Assembly. I therefore encourage the MPs to push this matter in Parliament,” he said.

The former MP, who along with other citizens of the area, including Mr Rex Godson Edeckor, Mr Paul Kwami Sewor, Mr Dennis Kulekey and Mr Francis Nyonyo, the Council of State member got recognised for working with the Ghana Hydrological Authority, to drain the over-flooded Keta Lagoon into the sea by breaching the sandbar separating the lagoon and the sea last year, was happy about the impending projects along the coast.

He advised the respective assemblies to form a joint committee to coordinate activities of the three projects likely to take place along the Aflao-Anyanui coastline: the phase II of the sea defence project in Ketu South, the Keta Port and the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP 2) under three separate state agencies to avoid duplication.