The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa, has praised the government’s intentions to provide GH220 million to support victims of the Akosombo Dam leak as “encouraging.”
Over 30,000 people were relocated when the Volta River Authority opened the dam’s spillway to lower water flows in order to safeguard the dam’s structural integrity.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced a GH220 million cedi assistance package for all impacted persons.
“Mr Speaker, the Government has budgeted an amount of GH¢220 million to support the relief phase for the communities affected by the Akosombo spillage as well as floods upstream in the Oti, Savannah, and Bono-East Regions,” Ofori-Atta told Parliament.
The news is welcome, according to Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa, whose constituency was most damaged.
“That is a significant development, and I think that in this entire budget, that is the only positive that I would like to highlight. However, I will be cautiously optimistic because there is a world of difference between allocation and actual release. So, the GH¢220 million for the first phase of relief is positive and worth highlighting, and we are looking forward to the second phase, which the Finance Minister referred to as the restoration phase.”
