The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) has criticized the government’s One Village-One Dam initiative, calling it “needless” after revelations that the minimum cost of constructing a dam is five million Ghana cedis.
The initiative was launched in 2017, and aimed to provide water storage facilities for farmers across the country.
According to viability studies conducted by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, the minimum cost of constructing a dam is five million Ghana cedis.
The Authority’s Acting Chief Executive, Richard Opon, shared this information with the Public Accounts Committee.
“The minimum dam that you can construct now is about five million Ghana cedis. And the maximum, because if you look at it, we are not looking at targeting just small storage dams,” Opon said.
He further explained that the initiative aims to construct dams that can withstand climate change impact, with the maximum cost being around 22 million Ghana cedis per site.
However, the General Agricultural Workers Union disagrees with the initiative.
Executive Secretary Edward Kareweh stated, “We don’t always need water to drink in our homes and use it for other purposes. We don’t need individual holes. It is just for Ghana Water to be well-resourced to drink the water and let it flow to our taps.
“In the same way, farmers need water. They don’t necessarily need the water to come from their village,” the GAWU President stated.
Mr. Kareweh emphasized that the cost of constructing dams is “colossal” and that the initiative was not feasible. “If you don’t make it some, I mean, you just go to the soil and you think that is a dam and you cannot hold water beyond the next day,” he added.
Mr. Kareweh also questioned the effectiveness of the initiative, saying, “where are the dams?”. He pointed out that many of the constructed dams are merely dugouts, which are not effective in storing water. “So that whole concept was not feasible practically,” he concluded.
The government claims to have constructed over 574 dams since 2017, but the Union argues that the initiative has been needless and a waste of resources.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Candy Nana Esi Arthur
