Thieves have raided the defunct Asubingya Irrigation facility site in the Wenchi Municipality of the Bono Region and stolen three water pumps.
During a visit, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) noticed that the powerhouse was left in ruins, however, the electricity cables fixed to the facility remained untouched. Other equipment and machines were obsolete.
When contacted, Mr Emmanuel Afful, the Wenchi Municipal Director of Agriculture, confirmed to the GNA that the thievery had been reported to the Wenchi police, saying the government intended to revamp and make the facility operational.
He said, “an assessment team from Accra together with technical personnel of the Wenchi Municipal Assembly recently visited the site, only to find that the thieves have stolen the electricity pumps”.
Mr Afful indicated that the irrigation facility covered a land size of about 70 hectares, saying, making it operational would enhance agriculture and improve food production in the municipality.
Meanwhile, checks revealed that the government constructed the project in 1976 through the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority and rehabilitated it in 2006.
However, it has since remained non-functional as farmers in the municipality cried over lack of irrigation facilities to boost year-round crop and vegetable production.
Further checks showed that the facility takes its source of water from the Subin River where a dam is built across the river as a source of water for irrigation.
In an interview with the GNA, some of the farmers around the facility expressed worry about the deterioration condition of the facility and called on the government to revamp it.
According to the farmers, mostly women, the present prevailing climatic conditions in the Municipality was not favourable for farming, as the rainfall pattern remained unpredictable.
One of the farmers, Mrs Lucy Osei, regretted that the Municipality had experienced erratic rains in the crop season adversely affecting crop production.
She called on the government to come to their aid and rehabilitate the facility, saying with the facility in place, farmers could increase production annually.
Source: GNA
Source: ghanabusinessnews.com
