Ex-President, J.J. Rawlings is back at Wume-Tefle in the Volta Region where he is helping with the removal of weeds from the Volta Basin to help fight water-borne eye diseases affecting the people. He has been part of the ongoing project by the Volta River Authority to get rid of the weeds that have stagnated the flow of the river and allowing for the breeding of parasites that carry eye diseases. He was at the venue when fire gutted his residence and destroyed the family’s property on Sunday morning. But he has, after ensuring the rest of the family was safe, returned to ‘base’ to join the VRA team which spends about eight hours daily on the weed removal. The VRA reckons the work will take 18 months to complete as the weeds have so engulfed the river and silted its path the clearing process is painstakingly slow. The VRA, following awareness created by the combined efforts of the former President and Unit Chairmen of the NDC in the affected area, has employed amphibious weed harvesters to clear the thick growth of riverweeds. “The project has already seen an improved flow on the river making it more difficult for the parasites to breed,” says Rawlings. A visiting Italian medical team at the Comboni Hospital at Sogakope treated about 30 children from the area of eye ailments recently. A posting at former President Rawlings’ blog site says he has been associated with the Wume-Tefle area for the past 30 years, observing that the primary vocation there in the past was oyster and shrimp fishing but with the advent of electricity, the inhabitants moved into other areas of economic activity and that led to the neglect of that section of the river leading to the heavy silting of the river with weeds. The former President who has built a working relationship with operators of the weed harvester; Messrs Thomas Agbasi, MCintock Odoi and Tetteh Okantey, and often helps out with the harvester, commended them for the difficult work they were doing to make the lives of the people of Wume-Tefle comfortable. Story by Myjoyonline.com/Ghana