Accra, April 24, GNA - The Volta River Authority (VRA), as part of the implementation phase of the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam project, has held its second stakeholder engagement meeting with representatives of various government Ministries and agencies in Accra.
The dam project on the White Volta River is designed to generate an extra 60 megawatts of power, provide a 20,000-hectare irrigation scheme and serve as a flood control mechanism.
The construction of the dam, funded with a loan from China, is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2019 and will take about three and a half years after award of contract to complete.
The building of the hydropower component alone, which is the first phase of the project, will cost an estimated $300 million per VRA’s feasibility study.
Mr Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, the Chief Executive VRA, said aside ensuring an increase in the generation capacity, the multipurpose dam would bring a significant relief to the people of the Northern, North East and Savannah regions by serving as flood control and averting the destruction of lives and property during the rainy season and from the spillage of the Bagre Dam.
He said the development of the 20,000-hectare irrigation scheme would boost economic activity in the Upper East and North East regions.
The irrigation scheme is expected to boost annual rice production by up to 117,000 tons and maize by up to 49,000 tons.
Other crops like tomatoes, sweet potato, sweet pepper, onion and watermelon would be cultivated alongside.
“This will promote agricultural production and attract large-scale commercial farms, supported by smaller scale outgrowers,” he said.
On re-settlement, Mr Antwi-Darkwa said the VRA would treat the issue with extreme sensitivity and in conformity with the cultural norms and traditions of the people, adding that previous project experiences in Akosombo, Kpong and Bui would be brought to bear on any decision to be taken.
Mr Kwaku Wiafe, Manager, Business Development VRA, said the current project design was the best balance among the project benefits of hydropower, flood control, irrigation and the environmental and social impact.
He said the hydropower would increase renewable energy capacity and enhance Ghana’s climate change commitment of 10 per cent renewable by 2030 under the United nations Framework for Climate Change.
Mr Wiafe said the VRA was revising the Environmental and Social Impact Study (ESIA) study in line with the reduction in dam elevation from 170m to 165m to identify the project impacts on the people.
VRA is also preparing Re-settlement Action Plan in accordance with established international standards to ensure that it adequately compensated or resettled all persons adversely affected by the project.
“Re-settlement will also take due cognisance of any cultural or social considerations. VRA started extensive stakeholder consultation in 2014 to ensure that it takes account of concerns of the affected persons in the design of the project.”
VRA started work on the Pwalugu Dam as far as the early 90s, when it conducted pre-feasibility studies on potential hydro sites in the White, Black and Oti River Basins.
The current project activities started in 2013 when VRA, with financial support from the Agence Francaise de Development of France and technical support from the World Bank, initiated a feasibility study as well as an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Dam and Irrigation Scheme.
VRA completed the feasibility study in 2018 and proceeded to the implementation phase of the project.
GNA
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