At least three dams constructed under the One-Village-One-Dam (1V1D) policy in the Upper East Region are unable to provide an all-year-round water for both domestic and agriculture use due to shoddy works by the contractors, the Water Resource Commission (WRC) has revealed.
According to a WRC researcher, Dr Joan Akandi Atulley, the three dams, namely, Vunania Dam in Navorongo, Gia and Duo Dams in Bongo, dried up soon after the raining season ended as a result of the defects, water leaked through them, making it impossible to serve their purpose.
Dr Atulley disclosed this at a National stakeholder workshop on irrigation development organised by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) in Accra on Wednesday.
Attended by representatives from the government and private institutions in the sector, the workshop discussed the state of the dams under the initiative, following concerns about their ineffectiveness.
Dr Atulley said the 1V1D policy was one of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration’s flagship programmes aimed at ensuring all-year-round agriculture in the three regions of the north, through the construction of irrigation dams in every village.
Critiquing the policy approach in a presentation, Dr Atulley said contractors of the dam did not have the relevant skills needed for the construction of the dam, adding that the government consulted private contractors rather than the Ghana Irrigation Authority.
Other factors, she said, were inadequate knowledge of community members regarding the technicalities involved in the siting and constructing of reservoirs and inability of contractors on project execution.
Aside from the fact that there was no data on the policy, she said, the water in the reservoir soon dried up after the rainy season, hence the farmers did not utilise the dam efficiently to their benefit.
She, therefore, advised project managers to consult relevant institutions such as Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) in executing their projects in order to promote efficiency.
The National President of PFAG, Mr Wepia Addo Awal Adugwada, said many stakeholders had lost hope in the government because its initiatives had not enhanced the sector, including the 1V1D initiative, which had failed to meet expectations of farmers and were not fit for purpose.
He said the Gia Dam, constructed in 2019, developed a number of defects and showed a flat valley with pockets of water in the deepest part, clearly defeating the purpose for which it was constructed.
That, he said, could be blamed on the lack of stakeholder engagement prior to the beginning of the project, adding that most of the dams ran completely dry during the dry season.
Mr Adugwada also raised concerns on the need for government to invest in the six staple crops that is rice, maize, soya beans, tomatoes, cassava and cowpea in order to reduce their importation.
On his part, Executive Director of PFAG, Dr Charles Nyaaba, called on stakeholders in the sector, including traditional authorities who mostly released lands for farming, to support activities of smallholder farmers.
BY AGNES OWUSU
