The minister poses with the Adabraka Mantse and others after the programme
THE MINISTER for Works and Housing (MoWH), Francis Asenso-Boakye, has announced that the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project will officially commence in June this year.
The GARID project is an initiative designed to implement interventions aimed at addressing flooding in the Odaw Basin of the Greater Accra Region while focus on improving drainage, solid waste management and provision of services and infrastructure in flood prone areas around the basin.
To address adverse behavioural practices of communities along the Odaw River channel that contribute to flooding, and ensure a successful implementation of all the strategic components of the GARID Project within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, a Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) was designed.
Speaking at the launch of the SBCC campaign in Accra last Wednesday, Mr. Asenso-Boakye stated that preliminary arrangements show the project had made good progress and work would commence in June in the Odaw basin and its tributaries.
He, however, admitted that government alone cannot solve the sanitation and flooding menace in the city of Accra and the country at large and therefore called for a positive attitudinal change from the public.
“As we roll out this campaign, I urge the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to intensify their law enforcement activities by strictly applying the by-laws that affect sanitation and building plans. We must complement government’s efforts,” he charged.
To ensure the realisation of the full benefits of the project, the minister stressed that: “The attitude of the people must change; assemblies must work and the media must support.”
On her part, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah urged residents in the affected communities to “do according to the tenets set out by [community] planners so we will not obstruct the flow of water.”
Nii Tetteh Adjabeng, the Adabraka Mantse admonished residents to desist from dumping refuse into drains as well as other unpleasant behaviour.
He also called for intensive sensitisation in the media and other channels as well as regular evaluation of progress of the project.
BY Nii Adjei Mensahfio