Volta barracks sewage poisons river in Ho Dome

Untreated sewage from a non-functioning sewer treatment plant that serves the Volta barracks of the 66 Artillery Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces, is flowing into a river in the Ho Dome community.

The treatment plant, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) was told, had stopped working since 2016, causing overflowing raw effluence to flood its surroundings while finding its way through a storm drain along the road into the stream.

Residents complained to the GNA, saying the situation was of great worry to them, especially the stench and contamination, and appealed to relevant authorities to help address the situation.

An officer at the Regiment who sought anonymity alleged that several reports had been sent to the Military High Command on the situation with no positive response.

Mr Benjamin Oppong, Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told the GNA that the Agency would investigate and shut down the plant if found to be an environmental hazard.

Mr Richard Ahiagbede, Regional Environmental Health Officer, said his office had dispatched an investigative team to the barracks to engage the authorities on the way forward.

Some officers and men of the Regiment said the situation was a nuisance to them as well, and fear an outbreak of diseases.