Bui, (B/A), Sept. 10, GNA-Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a private waste and sanitation management company, in collaboration with the National Onchocerciasis Secretariat have embarked on a disinfestation exercise along the Black Volta River in the Brong Ahafo Region to rid the area of black flies.

The exercise, which was funded by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, was also aimed at creating a congenial atmosphere for workers and residents during and after the construction of a hydro electric dam at Bui, expected to generate about 400 megawatts of electricity for the country.

Mr. Samuel Nortey, Fumigation Supervisor of Zoomlion, said so far about 600 personnel had been recruited under the National Youth Employment Programme to carry out the exercise.

He said the company had procured phoxim, abate, carbosulfen and other chemicals, which were of low toxicity to be used on rotational basis to avoid resistance by the insects.

Mr. Nortey said the exercise would be carried out thrice every month to destroy the breeding spots of the flies to prevent further breeding of the flies along the banks of the Black Volta. He advised citizens of the area to take in more fruits so that their bodies could become resistant to the bite of the insects that caused swollen of parts of the body adding that the flies also caused river blindness.

Mr. Gilbert Delly, official of the Secretariat, said onchocerciasis was detected in the 1980's in the country. He said because some parts of the country were declared endemic, researches were conducted to identify the causes and preventive measures.

Mr. Delly noted that once every year, people in such endemic areas were supplied with drugs to ensure that the disease did not become a barrier to socio-economic development.

Professor Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister of the Ministry, said private-public partnership had been established towards the elimination of the flies in the Bui area.

He said the Ministry would liaise with relevant government agencies to keep the situation under control and lauded ZoomLion for expanding its capacity to fighting black flies to facilitate the construction of the dam and other infrastructure in the area. Prof. Gyan-Baffour urged citizens of the area to cooperate with the company to facilitate the execution of the project, which would provide livelihood to them and increase power supply to the country. Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Regional Minister, said the Regional Security Council would soon set up security camps to protect lives and properties during the construction of the dam. He called on investors to take advantage of the project and build affordable houses for businesses and the community as a whole. Mr. Baffour-Awuah advised persons recruited to work on the disinfestation exercise to work diligently so that they could be considered for work when the construction of the dam commences. Mr. Joe Danquah, Member of Parliament for the Tain Constituency, said the project had come at an opportune time to increase socio-economic activities in the area.

He said the project would be executed in three components: Hydro-Dam, Agro-based, which included fishpond and Bui-city to relocate affected persons.

Mr. Danquah noted that some telecommunication personnel were already in the area to carry out feasibility studies for the extension of communication networks to the area.

He appealed to government to recruit some of the citizens with skilled labour for the execution of the project. Mr. Danquah advised traditional rulers in the area to be circumspect in selling lands before actual demarcation of where particular components would be constructed. Mr. Oscar Provencal, the Public Relations Officer of ZoomLion, said capacity of the workers would be built as and when needed to ensure effectiveness of the programme 10 Sept. 07