The Volta Lake floodwaters have submerged barrels of locally-produced gin, famously known as Akpeteshie or apio, in Akanten, a close-knit fishing and farming community in the Upper Manya Krobo district.
Koforidua based senior Journalist Obed Kojo Ansah reports from the community that extensive efforts of both the owners and their customers who were determined to retrieve the barrels containing this beloved local spirit from the underwater depths.
These floods have not only disrupted the daily lives of the residents but also posed a significant threat to their economic activities, particularly in the production and enjoyment of Akpeteshie.
As the waters continue to rise upstream of the Volta lake, residents in fishing communities in Upper Manya Krobo face an uncertain future.
Rising water levels upstream of Volta Lake have submerged homes, leaving at least 1,200 residents displaced in the district.
David Kojo Narteh- Secretary for the traditional council in Akaten ,and Regional coordinator inland canoe fishermen Association told Starr News “whenever the water level rises ,and they spill the water,the water level begins to recedes in this area. When they close the dam or the spillage slowed it affect the area (Akaten) and all the other areas in upper Manya because the spillage helps us here When they open the spillage then the pressure here is coming down. Most of the houses have been submerged here”.
The Electricity Company of Ghana had no choice but to cut power to the affected communities as electricity poles became submerged
The vibrant Akaten market, once bustling with life, now lies submerged, leaving traders ,farmers and residents in despair.
Member of Parliament for Upper Manya Krobo, Bismark Tetteh Nyarko, Tuesday October 17,2023 visited the affected communities along with officials from the Ghana National Fire Service and NADMO. He witnesses firsthand the economic activities disrupted by this calamity.
“the submerging of the market means that economic lives will be affected .Aside that over 500 households have been submerged by this water which has displaced a lot of people . The cost of resettling this people is the headache that we need to all as stakeholders need to get for them” the MP lamented.
Hon.Bismark Tetteh Nyarko called on the Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly to release the 3% allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund for disaster management to NADMO, the National Disaster Management Organization, to provide aid to the flood victims.
“The Act that established NADMO provided for 3% of the Assembly Common Fund to be given to NADMO.The NADMO Act 2016 section 39(C) provided for that 3% but my enquiry show that not even a pessewa has been allocated to NADMO and that is very bad that as a people we need to take some of these things seriously. So that is times like this we don’t find ourselves wanting”.
The MP allocated a building earmarked for Police station as temporal shelter for the victims.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
