Encroachers on lands around the Weija Dam project face prosecution if they do not stop their activities, Mr Ronald Abraham of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) has warned.

Speaking at a meeting between the WRC, opinion leaders of the area and some of the encroachers, last Thursday Mr Abraham said the dam which was constructed in 1928 and reconstructed in 1968 could collapse if encroachment is allowed to continue.

Mr Abraham said many notices to them to stop their activities have fallen on deaf ears and the only alternative is to enforce the law establishing the dam, "State Lands (Accra-Weija-site for Weija Dam Project) Instrument of 1977."

He said the encroachers have resorted to the use of illegal means to ply their trade.

He mentioned some of the practices as farming and fishing along the lake, inappropriate disposal of liquid and solid waste in the dam and the use of dynamite to blast the rocks.

He said their activities pollute the water and the government cannot continue to pump huge sums of money into treating it.

He said the police and the military patrol teams have been notified to arrest anyone who flouts this order.

Meanwhile, a fisherman at the catchment area, Charles Teye-Caesar, during question time, asked for the basis of their eviction and said, the over 4,000 people living along the dam will have nowhere to go.

He rather advised the WRC to instead demarcate the catchment areas so that any one who trespasses will be arrested.


Source: The Ghanaian Times