"The last recorded spillage."- An update.

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Figure 1: Lake Volta, the Akosombo Dam and Kpong Dam in Ghana.

Hi guys! Here is a brief update on the situation in Ghana which I spoke about a couple of blogs ago (Figure 1). An article published yesterday debates the historical negligence of the Volta River Authorities and Ghanaian government to local communities since the Akosombo and Kpong dams erection in 1965 and 1982 respectively, as well as the current affairs. 
  • 26,000 people have been displaced by the spillage, but no recorded deaths
  • 8,000 rescued by the navy
  • The history of the Volta River Authorities has not been addressed and no compensation has been agreed for the communities who suffered the losses
  • No aid for the communities to move belongings away from flooding
  • Not adequate enough time given for an evacuation despite a simulation ran earlier this year
  • Flooding did not stay within unoccupied flood zone, as predicted
This is not a stand-alone event. It has happened before- the last recorded spillage was in 2010- and it will continue to happen in the future. I will discuss what causes these events in a future blog.

Comments

  1. Lucy Butler4 January 2024 at 14:17

    This is a truly devastating situation. In spite of the authorities' 2022 economic loss as a result of inflation, The Volta River Authority, and by extension The Ghanian State, should have a moral obligation to recompensate individuals impacted by the spillage and ensuing floods!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beth Tanner5 January 2024 at 10:38

    Exactly! 26,000 people displaced, with prior upset over the construction over the dam. It has caused too many issues for these communities, and as you stated there has been an economic loss as well as numerous power cuts across the major cities. The local communities cannot keep being effected with no one taking responsibility for these events- technically it was man-made due to the lack of preparation in evacuation procedures and spillage in the dams!

    ReplyDelete

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