Public Agenda (Accra)
Bright Segbefia
21 November 2008
It is common knowledge that stagnant water has its attendant health problems of biharzia so no one needs to be told that this is the lot of the people along the Volta River from Akwamufie downstream.
The argument that if it is possible for people living tens of miles away from this river having potable water, why then say that these people are faced with this situation of relying on bilharzia-polluted water? Well, that is the stark reality.
To ascertain the current situation on bilharzia, I collected data from the records of the Catholic Hospital at Battor in the Volta Region in September, 2008. The revelations have been shocking about the upsurge. While in 2007 a total of 313 patients, that's 194 males and 119 females, were treated for this illness, the figure shot up to 390 from January to September in 2008 with the breakdown being 263 and 127 for males and females respectively.
If you consider that these figures are from just one of the hospitals in the three Tongu districts, then you can imagine the dimension of this albatross on the people's neck. We've Komboni Clinic, Government Hospital, both at Sogakope and another at Adidome, all of which serve large population of people.
The intensity of Bilharzia attack in the district is underscored by a letter sent in August, 2008 to the same hospital by the Headmistress of Methodist Junior High School at Battor, Ms Comfort Gati, appealing to the hospital to come and administer some anti bilharzia drugs to the pupils for passing blood in their urine.
Ms Gati said that having observed that there were always blood stains on the floor of the school's urinal, she asked at a general assembly of students of both the primary and JHS that all those passing blood should raise up their hands. To her surprise, almost the entire school did. She, therefore, sent a letter in May, 2008 to the North Tongu District Assembly for help, but it was only 121 pupils out of a total of 420, according to her, who were treated.
She later decided to solicit salvation from the Catholic Hospital at Battor.
I gathered that the Volta River Authority (VRA) went round the areas dispensing anti-bilharzia drugs to the inhabitants a couple of years ago, but the headmistress said to her mind that was in 1980s.
Potable water extension
The VRA should find out how come that despite the extension of potable water to some major towns in Tongu districts recently bilharzia is still on the upsurge. Well, for their information, the pay-as-you-fetch policy has left the poor people with a choice out of no real choice by resorting to the use of the raw river and the often-thirsty wells. Sand winning in the river by few men to earn a living, a growing phenomenon, may also be a back-up.
The general harm that the construction of the dams has triggered among Tongus is enormous and cannot be quantified. It has been observed that the level of education has taken a sharp nose-dive in Tongu since many parents cannot look after their children in school. There has been exodus of the people seeking alternative sources of employment elsewhere so as to be able to give their children high education. And this is what has accounted for the large number of fisher folks from the region dotted around petty water bodies elsewhere plying their traditional vocation and are mistakenly labeled as 'Battors'.
There are disturbing signals that these rivers and streams are dry of fishes. Go to Yeji, Dambai, Abotoase and other busy fishing communities along the Volta Lake and you'll realise that their daily catch is scanty, which points to fish stock decline. So what happens to the dreams of these people who want to get their children educated at all cost?
And this is where I have a bone to pick with the state and for that matter the VRA. If it is necessary for a few people to make a sacrifice for the good of the larger society, then of course the victims must not be left to suffer in vain, they must be adequately compensated. But in the case of this people, their joy, wellbeing, and social cohesion have been disrupted by the Akosombo and Kpong dams without anyone showing concern.
And why won't the state or VRA find it humane to institute a measure to alleviate the intensity of their predicament? The apathy and indifference of the VRA, in my view, is to perpetuate the poverty, disease, social breakdown, cultural disintegration and injustice that have been inflicted on the people without any visible sign of these wounds being healed anytime soon.
Landmark trial in UK
I can recall a landmark trial this year in the UK in favour of some fishermen against the owner of an oil tanker, The Sea Empress, for the 72,000 tonnes of crude oil spillage after she had ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven estuary in February, 1996 in 'the wake of navigational error'. An NGO, Friends of the Earth, took up the case on behalf of the fisher folks claiming that the 120 miles- coastline spillage affected the people's business and the court upheld it with a £4m fine, later reduced to £750 in an appeal. Is there no such an NGO in Ghana to do same for the people down stream Senchi?
I uphold the conviction that the state owes it a duty to institute a scholarship scheme for some children from these areas with a committee in place to work out the modalities. What about a university in the area? The migration of intellectuals from the district is due to the lack of a University in the area or Region.
Cocoa farmers' children are enjoying scholarships though their parents receive payments on their produce. There's absolutely nothing wrong about this and many other arrangements, for the Bible says in Luke 20:19-26 that Caesar must not be denied his due.
Why won't it be prudent to turn attention towards Tongus? What about the disclosure by the Minister of Energy, Hon Felix Owusu-Agyepong, in the 28th October, 2008, edition of the Daily Guide (page 10) that a new University called Petroleum Technology University (PTIG) is to be established in the Western Region. A Western Region Development Fund for oil revenue has also been tabled. Why Western Region and not Upper West or Bono Ahafo? Though the Minister said that the aim was to address some of the critical challenges that would confront the country's petroleum industry, this cannot be short of compensation for the imminent environmental hazards.
What has happened to the few for a held over the years about the Volta Lake Basin as a way of assessing the environmental impact of the dams on the people? In any case did the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) undertake any evaluation with recommendations before the inception of the projects? What have been the actions on them?
There is a saying that a lazy hunter's dog never makes a good hunting dog. You see, I've a problem with the chiefs of the various Traditional Areas of Tongu; Agave, Tefle, Sokpoe, Tefle, Vume, Fievie, Bakpa, Mafi, Mepe, Battor, Volo, Dorfor, Fodzoku and Torgorme for their inaction. In fact, they have not demonstrated a commitment to the course of their people in this regard. Are they content with this situation that their subjects have been pushed into? If they're not, what have they done and why do we not hear about their collective efforts. If they have been individualistic in this battle, then I don't think they need a soothsayer to tell them that they'll continue to miss their target; a united web can trap a tiger just as there's strength in unity and they ought to come together to present a common voice for effect.
Solomon Amegavi's dream would have been a reality if a scholarship scheme had been in place and that's what makes it more compelling, in fact, a duty for the traditional leaders to act now. The VRA must be whipped into action, better late than never.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Public Agenda. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
