Editorial by Ghanaian Times: VRA spillage victims deserve compensation

It is recalled that on Sep­tember 15, 2023, the Volta River Authority (VRA) started a controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams to save them from the destruction they could suffer due to more water from heavy rains and spillage from the Bagre Dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso entering them beyond their operating level of 276 feet.

It is likely that if such an action had been avoided and the dams had burst, a worse situation involving even loss of lives would have emerged.

However, while that action became necessary, the result was a calamity for the nation.

Initially, communities in seven districts in Greater Accra, Eastern, and Volta regions were affected, with the communities in the Volta Region bearing the pinch the more.

In no time two more districts got affected to the extent that on October 16, 2023, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) became alarmed and advised people in districts within the buffer zone of the Akosombo and Kpong dams who had not been affected by the spillage to make alterna­tive arrangements and move up-stream.

We hear that fortunately, the raging floodwaters are reced­ing but that does not relieve the government of its obliga­tion and as a result, withhold the best of State assistance to the spillage victims.

From afar, we hear the political innuendoes and aspersions and think such can reduce the magnitude of the spillage disaster to business as usual.

Even just evacuating your usual residence to a different location in such an emergency is not pleasant.

Here are people who have lost homes, other possessions, and livelihoods, are displaced, suffering hunger and thirst, deprived of proper hygienic life, and likely to suffer all manner of diseases.

The fate of such people should not be toyed with for any gain.

We commend all the donors going to their aid with food items, bedding, and other things, as well as soothing words, and join the victims in calling for more assistance.

These are just for their relief, meaning that they need assistance that can restore them to their normal independent living.

We do not fault those call­ing for a state of emergency for the State of Ghana to pay particular attention to the situation.

Yes, a state of emergency can be called by the government in situations that pose fundamental threats to the country, including disasters, natural, human-induced, or a mix of both like the VRA spillage.

However, we think we are not at that point yet because states of emergency have certain repercussions or impli­cations.

For instance, a state of emergency may lead to re­stricting some liberties of the victims and these are people who are already distressed with some of them having become traumatised.

We think what is most important now is for the State to plan what can be done to restore the victims to nor­mal life, including rebuilding destroyed or lost homes, compensating those who have lost livelihoods, and getting the people back to their liveli­hoods.

In the long term, we think the State should plan to con­tain such flooding which some simply describe as human-in­duced, and also mitigate the impacts of the purely natural ones.