By Edward Dankwah
Accra, June 26, GNA – Contracts for drainage improvement works in Kaneshie to kickstart are to be signed in the coming weeks, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister, Ministry of Works and Housing, has announced.
He said the works would be in two lots, the construction of a storm drain from Accra Academy to Pamprom Junction and another one from the Bank of Ghana Quarters to the Odaw.
The Minister disclosed this at a sod cutting ceremony for the commencement of reconstruction works on the Nima-Paloma Storm Drain which runs through Asylum Down to the Odaw channel, in the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly.
He said works would commence with the relocation of utilities, after the completion of the ongoing resettlement of project-affected persons.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah 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 testament of the Government’s commitment to reducing the vulnerability of citizenry in Ghana with other activities enhancing access to basic infrastructure and improving public service provision in Ghana.
He 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.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said the Ministry remained steadfast in its commitment to creating resilient communities that could withstand the challenges posed by climate change and urbanisation.
“We need the support of all Ghanaians to make this vision a reality,” he added.
He said the GARID Project had made good strides in the implementation of its key flood control programmes in Accra.
The Minister said community upgrading interventions comprising the construction of primary and secondary drains, pedestrian and vehicular access roads, solid waste management facilities, and extension of security lights, and water supply networks were currently underway in Alogboshie, Akweteyman and sections of Nima.
He added that besides the upgrading works, the Project had also commenced the performance-based dredging contract of the Odaw River, and the reconstruction of the broken sections of the Odaw channel at Achimota-Abofu.
Mr. Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, assured the Minister that the Office of the Regional Coordinating Council would exercise strong coordination and supervision during and after the construction work.
He said the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies would be held to the highest standards in limiting indiscriminate solid waste disposals which ended up in the drains.
The Regional Minister advised the residents along the drains and all others to refrain from such bad behavior practices to be able to boast of a clean and healthier city.
GNA