Four communities in the North-Tongu District of the Volta Region, have called on government to implement plans to address the economic problems confronting communities downstream the Volta Lake following the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
Mr Gabriel Kudomor, Chairman of the Joint Development Association of Mafi-Adidogorme, Mafi-Todzi, Mafi-Amule and Mafi-Angbleta, made the appeal at the “Norvinya Za” (communal renewal festival), at Mafi-Adidogorme, near Adidome, at the weekend.
He said the Dam had changed the ecology of the area drastically, including destroyed soil fertility, reduced fish and oyster stocks, affecting the livelihood of the people in the area.
Mr Kudomor asserted that, studies prior to the construction of the Dam identified those lapses but governments had failed to address them.
Mr Kudomor said communities in the area have become ghost towns, as people were forced to migrate from the harsh economic conditions.
He appealed to government to assist the people in the affected communities with inputs for dry-season irrigation farming and aqua culture, while it formed a committee to examine the extent of deprivation in the area.
He appealed for a peaceful co-existence among ethnic groups in the area.
Alhaji Bube Dzinadu, North-Tongu District Chief Executive (DCE) in a speech read for him commended the people for mobilization resources for development, a task government alone cannot shoulder.