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Danger looms as some residents of Vea, one of the densely populated villages in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region risk being submerged under water following the Vea irrigation dam overflowing its banks due to torrential rains.

Hundreds of residents fear being displaced, as the waters have cut off the village from its neighbouring Goree and the district capital, Bongo resulting in some residents' inability to crossover to neighbouring villages to transact business.

Some residents and other road commuters risk crossing the road close to the dam by boats which are not in good shape.

In an interview with Peacefmonline.com, the Assemblyman for the Vea Electoral Area, Baba Timothy, expressed disgust about the spillage issue, adding many people had died after they got drowned.

He said several appeals to the Bongo District Assembly and the government to intervene to construct a bridge to curtail the spillage phenomenon, had fallen on death ears.

He stressed since the construction of the dam in 1966, heavy downpour had prevented many residents, including teachers, nurses, farmers, among others from plying the route close to the dam because, " when torrential rains set in, excess water overflows from the dam".

Mr. Timothy also lamented the bad nature of the boats, saying they had been capsizing most times, hence the need for government to provide better boats and life jackets for the residents who insisted using the boats to row across to their destinations to embark on their business activities.

"The boats are not in good shape. Day-in day-out, we could see them capsizing people into the water. The boat assistants have been managing with those bad boats. Another challenge is that there are no life jackets", he said.

He accused the Bongo District Assembly and the Member of Parliament, MP for the Bongo Constituency, Albert Abongo of reneging on their promises of building a bridge to curb the overflow of water from the dam.

"In fact, we, the people of Vea have been taken for granted. The MP of the Bongo Constituency, who is now the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Abongo, promised using GHC1 billion to build a bridge to relieve us from this challenge. He just used his mouth to construct the bridge with GHC1billion. It's very pathetic", Mr. Timothy lamented.

There is the likely propability that academic performance of students in the Bongo District will dwindle as many schoolchildren might abandon classes to assist people to cross the dam by the boats to make money.

A Junior High School, JHS student and resident of Vea said he charges between GHC2.00 and GHC5.00 when he helps road commuters to cross the dam.

When contacted, the MP for Bongo Constituency, who is also the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Abongo, dismissed the allegation that he had been thoughtless about the plight of residents of Vea and said he made several appeals to government to intervene to rectify the spillage phenomenon of the dam.

He explained that the delay in building the bridge to resolve the issue was partly attributable to the "huge" nature of the project that would be executed by feeder roads.

He admitted the problem needed attention, reiterating plans were far advanced to rectify the plight facing residents and called on them to exercise patience.