NADMO earmarks safe places for Weija residents following spillage of dam

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has provided four designated places for residents of Lower Weija and its catchment areas in the Weija/Gbawe municipality in the Greater Accra Region who may be displaced in the wake of the spillage of the Weija Dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

The places are the I.T.S. Technical School at Weija, the Divine Grace School at SCC, the Methodist Church at Top Base and a school park at Gbawe-Zero.

This forms part of measures by NADMO to shelter people who may be displaced by flooding due to the spillage of the dam.

Spillage

The spillage is part of measures by the GWCL to protect Accra's main potable water source, the Weija Treatment Plant, from breaking down.

The spillage exercise, which began last Tuesday, will ensure that the excess water passes through Ada Kope, Old Barrier,  Pambros Salt, Lower Weija, Tetegu, Oblogo, Away, Bortianor and Glefe into the sea.

The exercise has so far restricted the movement of schoolchildren and some residents of the catchment areas.

Some of the residents, including children, have now resorted to using boats to cross the dam.

Public education

The Weija/Gbawe Municipal Director of NADMO, Mr Emmanuel Aduboahene, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the organisation had intensified public education in the vulnerable communities on the need to relocate to safer grounds.

He added that some officers of NADMO, the GWCL and other emergency response agencies had also been deployed to the communities to assess the effect of the spillage in the area.

According to him, letters had also been distributed to landlords and other residents in the municipality, urging them to release portions of their properties to help provide shelter for people who might be displaced in the course of the spillage.

He noted that each of the four designated places could shelter about 1,000 people.

“We are assuring the public, especially communities within the catchment areas, that measures are being taken to ensure the protection of lives and properties should the spillage cause any massive flooding," he said.

He said inspection teams had been set up to inspect dredging works at the estuary at Tsokome, where the River Densu and the sea meet.

Mr Aduboahene, however, said the organisation was yet to receive food items and other materials, including life jackets, to support it in its operations.

Statement

Last Tuesday, the GWCL announced that it would begin spilling excess water from the Weija Dam as part of routine measures to safeguard the treatment plant.

It said with the onset of the rains, the water level was rising and getting closer to the safe operating level of 47 feet.

“Like every dam, its safe operating levels are maintained to prevent it from possible collapse," it added.