Ghana risks yet another major disaster at Weija in the Ga West Municipal Assembly as thousands of residents defy calls for them to leave their homes despite the Weija Dam spillage.
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has opened all the five spillways of the Weija Dam to spill excess water to protect it from collapsing.
The excess water is expected to cause massive flooding along the lower course of the Densu River.
The spillage was necessitated by Wednesday’s heavy rainfall which claimed the lives of about 150 people and displaced thousands.
[contextly_sidebar id=”6ICFR0TKgfOhVGmw8Y686pkfTTdIcssA”]The Communications Manager at the GWCL, Stanley Martey told Citi News, spilling the excess water is the option they have to save the dam.
He explained that only one spillway was opened around 11am on Saturday but after an hour, the remaining four spillways had to be opened as well considering the volumes of water in the dam.
“We started with one gate at 6 inches and we continued after an hour or so with the second gate and it’s been continuing like that and now we have opened all five gates at 6 inches,” he said, adding that “the water level keeps rising so we had to open all five gates.”
He said it will be very difficult for the volumes of water being spilled to be quantified either in gallons or in cubic meters.
Mr. Martey expressed worry that residents living around the dam will be affected because “it keeps raining upstream so we have more inflows” meaning, more water will be spilled.
Meanwhile, communities that are likely to be affected include; Tetegu, Oblogo, Pambrose, Lower McCarthy Hill, Weija, Bojo Beach, and other surrounding communities.
Nonetheless, the residents in the area have refused to leave despite the spillage.
According to them, the lawfully acquired the lands from the chiefs and so there is no need for them to leave.
Others also indicated that they had spent their life savings in building their homes and thus appealed to government to find alternative measures in controlling the level of water in the dam.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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