A scene during the visit
The Savannah Regional Minister, Salifu Adam Braimah, has visited victims of a submerged ferry at Makango Volta Lake in the East Gonja District of the Savannah Region.
Some days ago, the ferry called Nana Besemuna, which was travelling on the lake to Makango with passengers, yams and other farm produce loaded on trucks, submerged.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the submerged ferry is about 50 years old and most of the wooded panels in the ferry had decomposed but fortunately no life was lost in the accident.
During the minister’s visit, workers of the ferry managed to pull out the trucks but almost everything had been destroyed by the water.
Some engines of the trucks were also damaged as a result of the submerging of the ferry.
Residents who use the ferry as their means of transport urged the government to get them a new ferry.
Naval Captain Akabutu told DAILY GUIDE that they had brought in machines to pump out the water from the tanks to be able to pull the ferry out of the lake.
“We have come with a diving company; they have come with some balloons which will be inserted alongside the ferry and as they pump the ferry will move up,” he explained.
According to him, the ‘Queen’ vessel which is stationed at Akosombo is expected to arrive at Makango on Wednesday to assist passengers to cross over to the other side of the lake.
He also said the Jakpa ferry would ply the Yeji-Makango Lake permanently to manage the situation.
The minister later called on the Volta Lake Transport management to frequently maintain the ferries to avoid similar situations in the future, and added that there were plans to construct a bridge on that side of the lake to make travelling more convenient.
“We are in talks with a Chinese company to construct a 7-kilometre bridge across the lake, so we will take it up to Cabinet,” he assured.
FROM Eric Kombat, Makango