By Edward Dankwah
Accra, June 26, GNA – Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister, Ministry of Works, and Housing, has cut sod for the commencement of reconstruction works on the Nima-Paloma storm drain.
The drain runs through Asylum Down to the Odaw channel, in the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly.
The reconstruction work is expected to help reduce the perennial flooding challenges in Accra, and bring the needed relief to residents, commuters, traders, and businesses, especially those in Asylum Down, and the communities upstream.
Speaking to the media during the sod cutting ceremony, the sector minister said, the 2024 National Flood Control program was continuing with dredging activities, concrete lining of storm drainage channels, and removal of critical bottlenecks in major drains, particularly in flood hotspots in several locations across the country.
He said these interventions were a testament of the Government’s commitment to reducing the vulnerability of citizenry with other activities enhancing access to basic infrastructure, and improving public service provision in Ghana.
The Minister said the ministry in collaboration with the Ghana Hydrological Authority, the Water Resources Commission, the Ghana Meteorological Agency, and NADMO, through the GARID Project was establishing a Flood Early Warning System for the Greater Accra Region.
He said the Early Warning System would provide advanced notification of impending floods to residents in flood-prone communities so they could take steps to protect their lives and properties ahead of the flood event.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said last year the equipment were distributed to support the establishment of the Accra Flood Early Warning System to the implementing institutions, adding that it had since been installed across a number of basins in the Greater Accra Region.
He said the final stages of the operationalisation of the Flood Early System had commenced, with engagements with a service provider to set up and operationalise the Flood Early Warning System platform.
“It is expected that the operationalisation of the system will be completed before the next rainy season to help mitigate the devastating impact of floods on residents of the Greater Accra Region,” he added.
He said Government had over the years invested significant resources in successive annual activities under the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programmes.
The Minister said this investment was, however, being undermined by the inappropriate behavior of residents, including some recalcitrant persons in communities along the Odaw channel.
“All across the country, some citizens are engaged in building in waterways, indiscriminately dumping solid waste that finds its way into drains, and inadequately maintaining existing drains,” he said.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said the implementation of the GARID Project’s interventions, and all other flood mitigation measures, would not succeed if such behaviour and underlying attitudes do not change.
He reiterated that for flood mitigation to work in Ghana, the citizens must change and be more responsible in their choice of building sites and the manner they disposed off solid waste.
The minister added that the Assemblies must work and strictly enforce building and sanitation regulations, with the the media also helping by using their platforms to help the Assemblies and other institutions to make it painful for people to indulge in bad behaviour.
Dr Ohene Sarfoh, the GARID Project Coordinator, said the drain had been the source of significant flooding over the years.
He said with funding from the World Bank, the construction of a 10-meter by 3-meter, 1 kilometer drain commenced today, to help mitigate the incidence of flooding.
The Project Coordinator urged the residents to cooperate with them for the successful reconstruction works.
GNA