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GWCL begins spillage of excess water from Weija dam
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The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has begun spilling excess water from the Weija dam as the water levels continue to rise beyond its normal capacity.
Public Relations Officer of the Company, Mr Stanley Martey told the Ghanaian Times in an interview that from the dam’s safe operating level of 47ft, water level had risen to 48.3ft as at yesterday, necessitating the spillage to prevent a possible collapse.
“Within the last three days, the water level has risen more than 10ft. As at Sunday, it had reached 47.9ft from 37ft but this morning it has reached 48.3ft which exceeds its maximum level and if we do not spill, we may be putting the dam in harm’s way.
“We started the spillage at 12:00pm yesterday and we are doing it gradually. We have started with two gates out of the five we have and we have opened it at 12 inches wide. As the levels rise, due to the rainfall pattern, we may have to add more gates and open more to spill the excess water.”
According to Mr Martey, as usual of the routine exercise, all stakeholders as well as residents living and owning properties along the dam site have been cautioned to move to safer grounds to protect their lives and properties.
“We have informed all the stakeholders that matter in the exercise. We should have spilled earlier on but we had to hold on to make sure we have informed everyone before doing so. Unfortunately, for the past 15 to 20 years nothing has changed with regards to people building along the buffer zone.
“We have done everything to stop people from building but it persists. People think they are responsible for their decisions and it is the District Assemblies who will have to be more serious in stopping these new developments.”
Mr Martey insisted that the GWCL could not be blamed for any eventualities resulting from the spillage adding that, “we will continue to spill until it is safe for us to stop. If we get more rains, we will open more gates for spillage.”
Touching on repair works on reported cracks of the dam and damaged filters for water production, the PRO indicated that plans are being undertaken to replace the damaged filters and refurbish the dam.
The Municipal Chief Executive of the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly (WGMA), Mr Patrick K.B. Kumor in an interview pointed out that the Assembly was preparing to “open the estuary to allow the excess water to flow into the sea to prevent flooding.”
“We had prepared earlier enough for this and sent information to all people living around that area to move to safer places. So far, pressure from the water spilled isn’t too high to flow into the estuary so it is under control though we are still monitoring.”
Communities often affected by the water spillage exercise by the GWCL include; Tetegu, Oblogo, Pambros Salt, Lower McCarthy Hill, Lower Weija, Bojo Beach, Ada Kope, Tsokome and surrounding communities.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
A 24-year-old tricycle (Pragyia) rider, has been jailed three months by the Nkawie Circuit Court in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region for biting a Community Police Assistant (CPA) at Nkawie.
Abdul Aziz pleaded guilty to the charge of negligently causing harm and was convicted on his own plea.
Police Inspector Kwaku Frimpong, prosecuting told the court presided by Mr Robert Addo that, complainants in the case were officers from the Nkawie Divisional Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.
He said on September 3, at about 8:40am, the complainants led by Chief Inspector Abedi Larbi, were on their official patrol duty to ensure safety at Nkawie township and met the convict, who was in-charge of a Pragya tricycle with registration number M-25-A-3722.
He explained that, after a careful inspection, it was detected that the convict was without licence and other required documents, so Alhassan Seidu, the CPA, was instructed to lead him to the office for the next action.
On their way to the office, the convict took a different direction, so the CPA directed him to take the right route to the police station, but he disobeyed and attacked the CPA, resulting in a struggle between them.
In the process the convict bit the CPA on the chest, so he shouted for help and some nearby youth rushed to the scene and helped him to arrest the convict.
In his caution statement, he admitted the offence and after further investigations he was charged and brought before the court. –GNA
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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the government to place all 54,985 candidates affected by the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) placement exercise in schools and publish the final outcome.
The party says the government must ensure that the affected candidates secure actual school places rather than merely being allowed to access the self-placement portal.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the party expressed concern about the situation facing the candidates.
The NPP said the government had announced that 53,887 of the affected candidates could use the self-placement system after initially being told that they had not qualified for secondary school.
It, however, argued that access to the portal did not guarantee that candidates would secure their preferred schools or programmes.
“Ghanaian parents and candidates will judge the resolution of the challenge by one thing only: how many of the original 54,985 are sitting in a classroom, not how many were allowed to open a website,” the statement noted.
The party said the government’s own figures showed that the country had 859,828 declared vacancies for 623,072 BECE candidates.
It explained that the main challenge was the concentration of demand in a small number of highly subscribed schools.
The NPP noted that 313,283 candidates selected Category A schools as their first choice, while those schools had 76,417 declared vacancies.
It therefore called on the government to explore ways to improve schools with available spaces, including providing teachers, laboratories and better programmes.
The party urged the government to use the 85 private schools participating in the Free SHS programme to absorb candidates who remained without placements.
The NPP further called for clarification of the rule and pass mark used for this year’s placement exercise, saying parents were entitled to know the standard before their children sat the examination.
It urged the government to take urgent action to ensure that the affected candidates were not left behind in the transition to secondary education.
By: Jacob Aggrey
