Afife rice farmers call for probe into rehabilitation works

Afife, July 16, GNA - The Afife Vegetable and Rice Farmers Association, has called for investigations into the rehabilitation works undertaken by a Chinese firm on the Afife Rice Irrigation Project three years ago.

It alleged that the 700 million Ghana cedis project executed by Shadong Geo-Minerals International was a waste of money, because it was shoddily executed and did not meet specifications. Mr Franklin Amegatsey, Vice-Chairman of the 1,024 member association, made the demand on Tuesday when officials of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) visited the area to find out the extent of damage caused by flooding that destroyed 277 hectares of rice fields.

Mr Amegatsey who estimated that the cost of damage was in the region of GHC145,807.31 said the havoc would result in hardships for 1400 people whose livelihoods depended on the project and appealed for immediate support.

He also called for compensation packages for farmers who lost their farms to floods in 2004 and 2006 just as was done for farmers in the Northern regions recently.

Mr Seth Dzokoto, Assistant Manager of the Afife Irrigation Scheme, of the Irrigation Authority (IDA), attributed the floods to the silting of the carnal and the low capacity pumping machine.

Mr Mawufemor Agakpe, IDA Project Site Engineer, who oversaw the rehabilitation works explained that the main carnal could not be dredged because the heavy equipment used tended to sink because the edges of the carnal were made soft by fishponds constructed along it.

He, however, said instead of the 128 cubic meter per second capacity pump that should have been used a 100 cubic meter per second capacity pump was used.

Mr Agakpe said a bigger carnal should have been constructed far away from the farms.

Mr Agakpe said the contractors were not paid the full cost of the project for shortfall of work as it did not complete the project. Mr Kwame Abonie, Deputy National NADMO Coordinator, promised that the government would tackle their problems.

Mr Henry Ametefee, Volta Regional NADMO Coordinator, noted that the failure of the rehabilitation works to take into consideration the concerns of the farmers had rather worsened the situation. The Afife rice project, constructed with a Chinese support between 1979 and 1982, was opened to cultivation in 1983.