Prof. Frimpong Boateng and Ms Elizabeth Agyemang touring portions of the encroached lands at Barekese. INSET The source of Owabi Dam where sandwinning takes place

‘Demolish illegal structures around Owabi, Barekese dams’

Donald Ato Dapatem Sep - 15 - 2017 , 06:37 2 minutes read

More than 200 illegal structures along the catchment areas of the Owabi and Barekese dams are to be demolished and farms that have been constructed within the same areas will also be destroyed.

The move is to save the two dams from imminent collapse.

Due to siltation, the depth of the Owabi Dam, which is supposed to be 22.5 feet, has been filled with sand, making the dam just five feet deep.

The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, gave the directives for the demolition when he toured the two dams in the company of the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Ms Elizabeth Agyemang last Wednesday.

Owabi

At the Owabi Dam catchment area, apart from the over 200 houses at various stages of completion, tributaries of the rivers serving the dam were being mined for sand to concrete blocks.

The team, which included management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), observed that large cocoa farms had also been cultivated on the catchment area of the Barekese Dam, while large portions of the land had been cleared of their vegetative cover ready for the construction of houses.

Preserve the water

While speaking at the Barekese Dam, Prof. Frimpong Boateng noted that already, climate change was wreaking havoc on the environment, hence people should not be allowed to engage in activities that would worsen the situation.

He said over 27,000 square kilometres of the nation’s lands had been destroyed, adding that “So whatever we have to do to preserve the water must be done. No question about that.”

He noted that people who live near rivers and drank from them were now buying sachet water to drink and bath because their sources of water had been polluted.

Otumfuo informed

Ms Agyemang stated that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, had been informed about the serious encroachment around the dams.

She said the regional coordinating council would give a one-week ultimatum for those who claim to have documents allowing them to build to produce them.