Contract to harvest tree stumps in Oti River costs GH¢3.5 million
The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has awarded a contract for the harvesting of tree stumps along the navigation routes in the Oti River at Dambai in the Volta Region.
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The GH¢3.5 million project, awarded to Dadeso Holdings Limited, is to ensure safe navigation on the river by the ferry and boats transporting goods and services in the three Krachi districts.
The Minister of Transport, Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, who cut the sod for the project at Dambai in the Krachi East District last Tuesday, said the removal of the stumps would cover about 1.5 nautical miles.
He noted that similar projects in the past only focused on the harvesting of economic tree stumps, leaving the non-economic stumps, which posed danger to transportation on the river.
“Many times when concessions are given out, the concessioners only harvest the economic trees and leave the ones they consider non-viable, and these cause the accidents on the rivers and lakes. The government has committed resources through the Ghana Maritime Authority to get rid of these stumps,” the minister added.
Landing site
In response to an earlier request for a proper ferry landing site in the area by the chiefs of Dambai, Mr Asiamah said the government was in the process of awarding a contract for the construction of a landing site at both ends of the river to ensure safe landing of the ferry.
He added that steps also were also being taken to fix a minor problem which was detected on one of the engines of the ferry.
The Member of Parliament for the area and Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr Michael Gyato, for his part, appealed to the traditional authorities and beneficiary districts to cooperate with the contractor for the execution of the project in January 2018.
