Save Weija Dam from pollution - MP

Accra, July 5, GNA - Mr Bayirga Haruna, PNC MP for Sissala West on Tuesday urged the government to fashion out a practical and sustainable solution to save the country from an imminent epidemic and disaster. He said latest developments indicate that the Weija Dam was seriously threatened by pollution due to human settlements, which had besieged the entire catchment area, some at the very fringes of the water body.

Mr Haruna made the call in a statement to the House on the pollution of the Weija Dam.

"The acquisition of the Weija Dam Catchment Area affected about seven villages, which have been resettled and taken care of by the government, however compensation for the lands acquired have not been paid to-date."

"Because of the non-payment of compensation some of the villages that have been resettled out of the catchment area have come back and have settled very close to the bank of the water body. "Worse still they are selling the land to developers at a very alarming rate with pockets of structures springing up, whilst one community buries its dead close to the bank of the water body." The MP wanted to know what the Ghana Water Company Limited, which owned the Dam was doing to protect the property and why the Environmental Protection Agency was not showing enough concern for this looming environmental disaster?

"Have the AMA and the Town and Country Planning Department all thrown their hands up in frustration? And whether the NADMO is waiting for disaster to strike for them to bring in relief assistance." Mr Haruna said the newspapers report daily that if care was not taken treated water from the Weija Dam would not be suitable for domestic consumption in the very near future.

"The water company officials have also come out to say that cost of treating water from the dam is the highest in the country, which attest to the fact that there is the need for immediate intervention.