Wenchi: Thieves have raided the defunct Asubinya 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 power house was left in ruins, however, the electricity cables fixed to the facility remained untouched. Other equipment and machines were obsolete.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Emmanuel Afful, the Wenchi Municipal Director of Agriculture, confirmed that the thievery had been reported to the Wenchi police. He mentioned that the government intended to revamp and make the facility operational. An assessment team from Accra, along with technical personnel from the Wenchi Municipal Assembly, had recently visited the site only to discover that the thieves had stolen the electricity pumps.
Mr. Afful indicated that the irrigation facility covered a land size of about 70 hectares. He noted that making it operational would enhance agriculture and improve food production in the municipality. 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 have expressed concerns over the lack of irrigation facilities to boost year-round crop and vegetable production.
Further checks showed that the facility sources its water from the Subin River, where a dam is built across as a source of water for irrigation. In an interview with the GNA, some farmers around the facility expressed worries about its deteriorating condition and called on the government to revamp it. According to the farmers, mostly women, the current climatic conditions in the municipality are not favorable for farming due to unpredictable rainfall patterns.
One of the farmers, Mrs. Lucy Osei, regretted that the municipality had experienced erratic rains during the crop season, adversely affecting crop production. She called on the government to rehabilitate the facility, stating that with the facility in place, farmers could increase production annually.
