Ghana has a lot of lessons to learn from Akosombo dam spillage – Institute of Planning

The Ghana Institute of Planning (GIP) says there are a lot of lessons to be learned from the Akosombo Dam spillage which led to the displacement of thousands of residents in parts of the Eastern, Greater Accra, and Volta regions.

According to the association, collaborative planning and engineering solutions including the construction of a multipurpose dam upstream at Pwalugu, detention ponds along the channel of the flow, data backed planned controlled spillage among others are very necessary for the ongoing resettlement planning efforts by the government and other stakeholders to ensure that the country does not experience devastation of this magnitude going forward.

Mohammed Alhassan Damba, the President of the Ghana Institute of Planning, speaking on the sidelines of the 52nd Annual General Conference and Meeting in Koforidua, emphasizes that the government must involve all stakeholders in the resettlement planning efforts.

“We have a lot of lessons to learn so we do not face this level of catastrophe. There are several players who can contribute to making this dream come true. Planners have the expertise in doing many things, in conceptualizing, in vision in collaboration with the affected persons in determining the shape and the future of our towns and cities.”

“We think that in this case, we can assist in the resettlement plan efforts. There are places where we simply have to do reconstruction. That will mean that we are not entirely moving the settlements affected from where they currently are. We may be moving part of them or maintaining them,” he said.

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