Owabi community appeals for better location of new settlement

Owabi (Ash), July 14, GNA- The chiefs and people of Owabi in the Atwima District in Ashanti, have appealed to the government to relocate them to a new residential area to save them from persistent floods by the Owabi River.

The community, located downstream of the Owabi Dam that supplies three million gallons of water to Kumasi and some of outlying towns, gets flooded after heavy downpour.

Nana Benjamin Kwabena Aboa, the Odikro who made the appeal during the visit to the area by Alhaji Mustapha Idris Ali, Minister of Works and Housing, said they have been living with the floods for the past 42 years.

He told the Minister that part of the bridge spanning the River had collapsed and that whenever it rained children from the community were unable to cross over to attend school at Akropong in the District. ''There are now about 20 houses in the community left idle as most parts have been washed away by flood waters from the river.''

Alhaji Ali said he had taken note of concerns of the people and gave the assurance that the government would do everything possible to move them to a safer place.

Mr Ahmed Tahiru, Station Manager at Owabi Headworks, informed the Minister that there was high level pollution of the dam by metals, oily substances and other waste materials washed into the dam from the Suame Magazine and residential buildings situated at the upstream. He said on the average, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) every month spends about 148 million cedis on chemicals for treatment of the water from the dam to make it safe for consumption. Mr Tahiru complained about frequent power cuts and voltage surges, saying, this had affected the pumping machine. Alhaji Ali later addressed a durbar of chiefs and people of Kumawu in the Sekyere East District and assured them that the government was determined to provide a permanent solution to the acute water problem in the area. He said the government is considering, either to source water from boreholes at Wonoo for distribution to Kumawu or draw water from the Afram River, a distance of about 48 kilometres to Kumawu. The Minister said the latter, although expensive, was the best option to effectively address the problem and that was what the government had settled on. Barima Asumadu Sakyi II, Omanhene of Kumawu Traditional Area, said water was their major problem and appealed to the government to address the issue.