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Mr Samuel Atta Akyea (2nd right) and some officials from his outfit looking at the drain at Avenor during the tour. Picture: EMMANUEL QUAYE
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea (2nd right) and some officials from his outfit looking at the drain at Avenor during the tour. Picture: EMMANUEL QUAYE

Ministry takes measures to minimise flooding in Accra

The Ministry of Works and Housing has rolled out temporary measures to minimise the impact of flooding ahead of the rainy season.

As part of the measures, processes are almost complete for the dredging and de-silting of all drains to ensure free flow of rainwater before the rains start.

Over the years, floods that had destroyed lives and properties had been attributed largely to the choking of major drains with silt and garbage, a situation which forces rainwater to find its way into residential areas.

Speaking to journalists after inspecting some drains in selected flood-prone areas in Accra after last Sunday’s downpour, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, said the problem was partly self-inflicted and underscored the need for the public to refrain from dumping refuse into drains and water bodies.

The areas the minister visited included Asylum Down, Alajo and Odawna.

He said it was very unfortunate that over the years the country had periodically experienced flooding, although the solution was not far-fetched.

Permanent solution

Mr Akyea said the perennial flooding the country was faced with was largely an engineering problem with the country’s drainage system.

However, he was quick to add that although the problem was engineering, a report on the situation available to him indicated that a solution had been proposed by engineers, in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, but financial challenges had hindered the implementation of the proposals over the years.

He estimated that an assessment of the problem had established that US$700 million would be needed to permanently resolve the problem of perennial flooding in Accra alone.

He said what the government would do differently this time around was to find the money at all cost to fund the implementation of the proposal.

He submitted that although a permanent solution would be very capital intensive, the government would definitely find the money to make avoidable flooding a thing of the past.

“We cannot play God by saying we will stop the floods because some situations such as continuous torrential rains are beyond human control. But where human intervention is needed, we will ensure that it is put in place.

“Floods occur even in some jurisdictions where infrastructure development is far advanced, but we will not make excuses and allow the causes under our control to persist,” he said.

Expressing worry about some recently constructed storm drains that were broken down by last Sunday’s rains, the minister said an investigation would be launched into the construction of all such drains, which normally were supposed to stand the test of heavy rains, to ascertain the cause of the breakdown.

He hinted that if the contractors were found to have done shoddy work, they would be surcharged with the cost of the project, if it became necessary, to serve as a deterrent to others.

Observations

During the tour, the Daily Graphic observed signs of water levels on buildings, indicating, possibly, the level of flooding in those areas during last Sunday’s rainfall.

Mrs Martha Agyei, a resident of Asylum Down, said “the flood situation we saw last Sunday as a result of the rains was really a cause for worry”.

Residents of other flood-prone areas called on the government to go to their aid as soon as possible before the rainy season begins in June/July.

There were indications that most of the huge drains in those flood-prone areas, which were currently heavily silted, had overflowed their banks during last Sunday’s downpour.

 

Writer’s email [email protected]

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