Ho-Ghana, Oct. 27, GNA – Flosell Farms, a leading tilapia producer in Ghana, has incurred losses to the tune of more than GHC6.4 million because of the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.
Mr Evans Danso, Managing Director of Flosell Farms, disclosed this in an engagement with the Ghana News Agency at Sogakope, in the South Tongu district.
He said the Company, which had been in existence for eight years now, produced 3,000 tons and 30 million pieces of tilapia and fingerlings yearly when in full capacity.
Mr Danso, who was the National Best Fish farmer in 2020, said a WhatsApp circular alerted the firm of the dam spillage compelling them to reinforce measures but ‘we’re overwhelmed.’
He said the rise in the water level led to their cages being swept away, while others crashed.
Mr Danso said about 122 tons of fish could not be accounted for while about 2.3 million fingerlings were also lost.
He said the spillage had also affected him personally since his abodes became inhabitable, adding that the company’s employees including 61 permanent and 50 casual workers had also been affected by the spillage.
Mr Danso said the Company had also gotten its three major water pumps damaged while other pumps were relocated, forcing a halt in production.
The feed warehouse, which stored about three containers of fish feed may be submerged since part of it was already in the water.
Mr Danso said 16 of the Company’s cages that were made around 2019 at a cost of $10,000 per one were lost, while some of the surviving fingerlings were dying due to the contamination of the water.
He said they had not received any concrete information and no one had called them except the Fisheries Commission, which sent two delegates to him to assess the situation.
Mr Danso called for proper support systems from the Government for affected food producers to help mitigate the excessive loss.
