The District Chief Executive for Bawku West, Tahiru Issakahu Ahmed has begun petitioning individuals and relevant stakeholders to extend the two-year contract with Dredge Masters Limited a subsidiary of Jospong Group of Companies to continue desilting the White Volta.
According to the DCE the desilting of the river will help prevent and reduce the yearly flooding farmers and residents in Bawku West and part of Talensi Districts usually faced each time the Barge dam opens.
“…without any doubt it will help reduce the flooding we face each time the barge dam is opened. So, all that I’m saying is that the contract of this company ought to be extended. Last I spoke with the Engineer of Dredge Masters, and he said if I want them to stay and finish the work it will depend on financing. So, I have spoken to a few individuals about it, and I will be petitioning the right authorities to extend this contract,” he added.
His comments pre-empted the ending of the two-year contract with Dredge Masters Limited a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies when the government of Ghana contracted the company to desilt portions of the White Volta River for free flow of water.
Alhaji Tahiru who spoke to A1 Radio then explained that the few portions of the river that were desilted two years ago have gained some impact for farmers during their dry season gardening, and again, last year the speed of which the flooding usually occurred such farmlands were not badly affected as compared to other areas.
The DCE however indicated that the white river in its current state was filled with sand and other solid waste which anytime the region experiences little dropping of rain, it usually gets full and runs over people’s homes and farmlands.
Meanwhile the construction of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam was part of some of the proposed methods the government indicated would have helped end the yearly flooding of the White Volta anytime they spill the Barge dam in Burkina Faso.
Source:A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|Moses Apiah|Bawku West|
