The Vice President Dr Alhaji Mahammudu Bawumia has given the assurance that government would reconstruct the Tono Irrigation Dam, in Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region.
He said the design and technical aspect of the affected components of the project would be changed so that the facility would be able withstand torrential rains and prevent crops from being destroyed by floods.
The Vice President gave the assurance at Tono during a visit to the project site to assess the extent of damage to the dam caused by heavy rains, and to sympathise with families who have lost relatives and properties as a result of the disaster.
This followed two weeks torrential rains recorded in the region early October, 2019, leading to collapse of the retaining walls, the spillway, the floor and the embankment of the dam.
Water from the dam had overflowed the laterals and canals, and at least 850 hectares of rice and other crop farms under cultivation, submerged by water.
The Vice President indicated that the project was the life wire of the people in the area, and promised to work hard in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Food and Agriculture and Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, to fast track rehabilitation of the dam before the next raining season.
The Operations Manager of the Irrigation Company in the region, Mr Sebastian Bagina, said if the dam was not rehabilitated before the next raining season, farming would be adversely affected in the area.
The Tono Irrigation Dam, constructed in 1975, and currently under rehabilitation, could irrigate at least 4,000 hectares of farmlands.
However, as a result of the breakdown of the major canals and laterals that carry water from the dam to farmlands, only 1,300 hectares of farmlands were being used.
The dam, if rehabilitated, would boost agriculture production, and feed the new water treatment plant under construction at Tono to supply treated water to Navrongo, Paga, Zuarungu, Bolgatanga and their environs by the Ghana Water Company Limited.
FROM SAMUEL AKAPULE, TONO
