VRA DREDGES VOLTA ESTUARY (BACK PAGE)

THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has successfully dredged the estuary of the Volta River at Ada, making it possible for the waters of the river and the sea to flow into each other.
The project, which cost GH¢1million and started in February, this year, was solely funded by the VRA.
Completion of the project has facilitated the flow of sea water into the river which experts say would increase its salinity and prevent weed infestation.
That, they say, would also help reduce cases of bilharzia in communities along the river.
Briefing some members of the Eastern Regional Press Corps after a tour of the estuary on Wednesday, the Deputy Chief Executive of VRA in charge of Engineering and Operations, Mr Kirk Kofi, said the authority had to undertake such an exercise due to a number of factors.
He said tourism and socio-economic activities of the people in and around the area would also be boosted since large amounts of fish from the sea would breed in the fresh water.
According to Mr Kofi, creation of the Akosombo Dam in order to generate hydroelectric power had created public health problems such as water-borne diseases associated with the Volta Lake, and that the estuary had become the sanctuary for bilharzia snails, resulting in high incidence of bilharzia in the communities around the lower basin of the river.
To address the health and economic problems and restore the ecosystem in the area, he said VRA had since 1990 maintained a dredging programme to address the problems, adding that although it had successfully dredged the estuary, periodic dredging would be done to ensure that no heaps of sand would be gathered at the estuary to create similar problems again.
“Although the dam has been very beneficial to the country, it has also created problems for the people living along the river, especially those near the estuary, and we have to work around the clock to solve such problems,” Mr Kofi stated.
He said VRA, in line with its corporate social responsibility, had always been assisting those living along the Volta River, and that it would continue to do so to ensure that the inhabitants would also enjoy life just like others elsewhere.
Mr Ben Dogbe, Dredge Supervisor of the VRA, said although not all the heaps of sand gathered at the estuary had been cleared, the sea waves that penetrated the estuary would do away with the remaining sand in due course.