One Village, One Dam project ‘washed away’ by rains at Kasena-Nankana West

One of government’s projects under its flagship One Village, One Dam (1V1D) policy constructed in Kajelo, a community in the Kasena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, has been washed away by Tuesday’s heavy downpour.

A visit to the site revealed that the high water levels from the downpour Tuesday, knocked down and washed away the central portion of the dam wall creating a split and leaving behind a fragile structure.

The misfortune has also left behind huge dunes of sand at places that had previously been excavated, resulting in the silting of a larger portion of the dam and watercourse.

The reporter said community members have expressed displeasure at the development, blaming the construction company for doing a poor job.

According to sources, concerns were raised by the community asking for proper reinforcement of the bank, but the contractor did not heed to their concerns.

“Now that everything has been destroyed by the rainwater, it is a call on us to tell the contractor to take his time and do the work well and proper. We will resist any shoddy work,” they vented.

The Kajelo community project is one of the first batch of six dams approved and being constructed in the Kasena-Nankana West area. The district has been allocated a total of 10 dams with the rest going to communities including Sakaa, Kazugu, kuliyaa, Katiu-Saa and Kayoro.

The District Chief Executive, Gerard Ataogye cut the sod in December and handed over the Kajelo site to Time Line Constructions Company Limited for the commencement of work.

Until the misfortune, major work on the project had been completed. It is gathered that planting of trees and river grasses along the bank of the dam to protect it was the contractor’s next plan of action.

Meanwhlie, Assemblyman for the Kajelo Electoral Area, Hilary Aniakwo, has said he is not happy with the turn of events and wants the contractor to return to site as soon as possible.

According to Mr. Aniakwo, the collapse of the bank of the dam is clear indication that the contractor did not do a proper job. He said the contractor’s failure to listen to suggestions from, “those who live in the community and knows it well, is what has caused this problem”.

He appealed to community members to stop faulting government in this and remain calm as the assembly works to bring the construction company back on site.

Source: Senyalah Castro