Tema Community 5 area faces serious floods
The Tema Community Five and surounding areas risk facing serious floods if the refilling of the portions of the Sakumono Lagoon in the community supposedly to undertake a housing project is not halted immediately, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has warned.
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The lagoon, which serves as a major channel for rainwater to freely flow into the sea, has allegedly been sold to an unnamed developer by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) and the said developer has since deployed equipment to the site.
When the Daily Graphic visited the area at the weekend, workers were feverishly preparing the site, using heavy duty equipment to spread gravels in the watercourses, as well as level the ground ahead of the commencement of the project.
Construction works of a church building at a portion of the lagoon, which was already refilled, was also progressing steadily.
Officials of NADMO are, therefore, calling for a proper technical assessment of the situation before the project is allowed to continue.
According to the Tema Metropolitan Coordinator of NADMO, Hajia Zeinabu Abdullai, the magnitude of the flooding that was usually experienced through the community during rainy seasons was likely to worsen if the project was allowed to go on.
“Scores of people will be displaced and lives could also be lost should any devastating floods hit the community,” Hajia Abdullai said.
“We do not want to be seen as distributors of relief items, so if there is something that can be done to protect lives and property, we will appeal to the appropriate agencies to help in this direction,” she added.
TDC
The Managing Director of the TDC, Mr Joe Abbey, however, debunked suggestions that the area was a low lying one, but rather the inability of the Sakumono Lagoon to store water was the main cause of flooding in the community.
According to him, the area stretched from Community Three through Community Five to Community 12.
He, however, denied that the TDC had sold the stretch as being speculated in the metropolis.
“We have not done any joint approval for sale of land along the Ramsar site. Rather, the area in question is a marginal land within TDC’s jurisdiction,” Mr Abbey said.
He indicated that leaving the lands undeveloped would not solve the problem of perennial flooding in the communities, since the channels into the sea were already blocked and “the whole area is covered with overgrown weeds”.
Slums
Mr Abbey explained that squatters had already commenced the development of slums within communities three, five and 12 areas, since they thought marginal lands lying in the communities could not be developed.
The illegal slum structures, he said, had no proper planning to include sanitation services, thus, reducing well-planned communities to slum settlements.
“All sorts of structures have sprung up in the areas and to put a stop to them, we think such marginal lands could be developed if proper engineering methods are put in place,” Mr Abbey pointed out.
“We believe the process we have initiated will also ensure a channel is created to divert the watercourse, since it presently lacks direction,” Mr Abbey added.
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