The Acting Director of Hydro Generation at the Akosombo Dam, Mr Ken Arthur, has dispelled rumours of the dam’s collapse, saying it is safe, secure and will last for many years.
Mr Arthur made this assertion at a joint presentation, in Akosombo in the Eastern Region, by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for journalists on the issue of the Akosombo Dam’s safety.
The presentation was initiated in the wake of a recent publication by an Accra daily newspaper, stating that any hydroelectric dam which has operated for more than 50 years could be dangerous to the very survival of human beings and must be decommissioned.
The event was attended by journalists after they were taken on a tour of the Akosombo Dam, and the safety measures and precautions taken by the engineers to ensure that all equipment and parts of the dam were well maintained.
The Acting Director stressed that the dam was in good shape, as long as it was well maintained, and would continue to be in operation for many years to come.
Mr Christian Atsu Dagbui, Principal Engineer (Civil), explained the various safety measures instituted by the VRA in ensuring that the dam was safe and secure.
He stated that a safety board from the VRA regularly checked the mechanisms and equipment at the dam ensuring that, they were efficiently maintained.
“Aside the safety board, we also have an international safety board made up of highly experience professionals with in-depth knowledge of dam safety who once every five years come to review the safety and efficiency of the dam,” Mr Dagbui added.
He said the last review held in May 2015, marking the dam’s 50th year inspection concluded that, “the performance of the reservoir retaining structure, power house intake, main dam, spill way 1 and 2, and the saddle dam continue to be fully satisfactory, in conditions similar to those registered in all previous five-year inspection reports, since the first one by the original Board in 1970”.
After the presentation, safety personnel at the dam took journalists round the facility to see at first hand mechanisms put in place to monitor the safety of the facility, including seismographs, which monitor earth tremors in the area, monuments put in place to determine the pace at which the dam moves and pizometers, which measure water pressure in the dam.
FROM FREDERICK GADESE-MENSAH, AKOSOMBO
