THE MINISTER for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has directed the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly to with immediate effect, stop ongoing construction works by some private developers on the buffer of the Kpeshie Lagoon in Teshie, a suburb of Accra.
The Minister issued the directive when he embarked on a tour to inspect progress of ongoing drainage works in selected flood prone areas in the city, and also to assess the readiness of existing drainage infrastructure ahead of the rainy season this year.
He was accompanied by officials from the Ministry, the Ghana Hydrological Authority and some Municipal Assemblies within the Greater Accra region.
The Minister and his team made their first stops at the buffer of the Kpeshie Lagoon and the River Kordjor located between the La Dade-Kotopon and Ledzokuku Municipalities where it was observed that there has been massive encroachment on the sites.
At Kpeshie, the team observed that a lot of unauthorised heavy construction works had taken place while other construction works were briskly ongoing much to the chagrin of the Minister and his team.
At River Kodjor, the team also observed that some 785 unauthorised structures were littered along its banks and had been marked for demolition.
It was gathered that the construction works were being carried out by private developers, including Messrs RA CONGLOMERATE without the appropriate permits.
The developers in their operations, filled the reserved buffer, which is meant to hold excess volumes of water flow during heavy rains, as they make attempts to turn the buffer entirely into a settlement.
When one of the workers was questioned as to whether or not they acquired permits before commencing their projects, he answered in the negative and went on to say that the authorities did not give them any notice to stop work when they began the projects.
An official from the Ghana Hydrological Authority (HDA) explained that the buffer, which was formerly a lagoon, was supposed to hold large volumes of water and that the activities of those putting up unauthorised structures on it was detrimental to the city as a whole, as water would be forced to move elsewhere since structures are being built on it, thereby causing floods.
The Minister therefore called on the Assemblies under whose jurisdictions the illegal constructions are taking place, to take the necessary steps to demolish structures that have been erected within wetlands or in waterways, and thereby, further exposing the city to the devastation of perennial flooding.
“It is unfortunate that despite the heavy investment in drainage infrastructure over the years, irresponsible behavior of private developers continue to expose the city, especially in areas, which hitherto, were not noted for flooding”. The Minister stated.
The Minister reminded the Municipal and District Assemblies that the power to demolish illegal structures rested in their hands and encouraged them to act swiftly to avert flood related disasters especially as the nation awaits the rainy season.
The MCE for La Dade Kotopon Municipal, Solomon Kotey Nikoi, disclosed that while his outfit had been doing their best to stem the activities of those involved in the act including making some arrests and seizing some equipment of the perpetrators, a lot remains to be done to fully combat the phenomenon.
“The Assembly’s efforts to stop the building of illegal structures have become a challenge that need the urgent intervention of its supervising Ministry. Efforts to stop, demolish, and arrest culprits have been met with assaults by landguards and death threats”, he disclosed.
He suggested that government constitutes a national taskforce to deal with the menace of encroachment in wetlands just like it was done for the illegal mining menace known popularly as galamsey.
On the security challenge, the Works and Housing Minister assured of his readiness to engage his colleagues at the Local Government Ministry to solicit the support of relevant authorities to deal with private developers who are bent on thwarting the efforts of government with blatant disregard for the laws, towards the flooding menace.
Still on the inspection, the team then moved to Tse Addo, another community in Teshie where it observed that some 14 structures located on the banks of a major drain there had been marked for demolition.
The team soon after traveled to Amanfro Kingstown in Kasoa, New Bortianor and other locations in the Ga South Municipality where they inspected more drains.
The Minister in his final remarks stated that the government had invested a lot of resources in the construction of new drains as well as the expansion of existing ones and would continue to do more while exploring other avenues to ending flooding in the city.
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio