The North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says months after government pledged to support the victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage, nothing has been done.
This, he attributes to the voting pattern of the people in the affected areas, especially those in the Oti and Volta regions.
Mr Ablakwa who was speaking on the JoyFM Super Morning Show on Monday believes government would have been sensitive to the people’s plight if they were more aligned with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He stressed that ahead of the by-election in the Ejisu constituency in the Ashanti region, new projects have commenced with road construction ongoing.
“We are all citizens and the government owes us a duty of care. I have been asking if this was a by-election scenario or a swing constituency where the government stands a chance of winning, will this be their approach?
“Over the weekend, I published the list of projects being undertaken in the Ejisu constituency just within this few weeks. New projects have started.
“When we see these things we are not convinced that government is not coming to our aid because they lack resources or they don’t have the funds, because we have seen government move in, mobilise resources and put together new projects, get contractors on site in record time when they have an interest or by-election to win.
“So why are they treating fellow Ghanaians this way? Ghanaians who through no fault of theirs have suffered this disaster. People who have sacrificed for decades so we can all have electricity and yet after taking them by surprise and opening the flood gates of the Akosombo dam, they are being treated this way. It is most unfair,” he added.
The outspoken legislator told host, Winston Amoah that with over twelve thousand people around Mepe and environs still displaced, the housing settlement provided by individuals and corporate Ghana is inadequate.
He said stakeholders are still demanding clarity on some ¢80 million alleged to have been spent by government on the resettlement of the victims.
“We will also recall that the President while delivering his Independence Day address had indicated that ¢80 million has so far been spent.
“We, following that statement by the President, filed urgent questions in Parliament for the Works and Housing Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to respond to…but unfortunately the Minister could not give us clarity on what that ¢80 million has been used for and when the reconstruction will commence..so as we speak, it is the individual efforts and individual mobilisation that I spearheaded that has led to the construction of two resettlement edifies in Mepe and Aveyime.
“We are also on a third project that we have rolled out in the Akpetiko community to also take care of that corridor. We have just passed the foundation level, again being spearheaded by the MP and partners and other benevolent Ghanaians.
“But in terms of the obligations of government to resettle and compensate the victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage, we are yet to really feel and see the response from government,” he stressed.
The spillage, carried out by the Volta River Authority (VRA) on September 15, 2023, displaced over 27,000 people, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
The spillage affected almost all the communities along the lower Volta Basin, resulting in widespread power cuts in the affected communities.
Source: myjoyonline.com
