The Mayor (middle) addressing the media while the minister (left) and officials of NADMO and AMA look on
THE MAYOR of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah has laid out his plans for addressing the perennial flooding within the metropolis, with a call on residents to desist from the act of dumping refuge into drains.
According to Mr. Adjei Sowah, residents of Accra should expect less flooding this year as the raining season sets in gradually, due to some major emergency dredging projects currently ongoing in some flood-prone areas of the city.
Mr. Adjei Sowah was addressing journalists when he embarked on an inspection tour of some drainage systems within the metropolis on Friday in the company of the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Ishmael Ashietey and some executives of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) as well as the National Disaster Management Organization.
A total of four drainage systems located at Kaneshie sub-metro, Sukura within the Ablekuma Central constituency, Osu, where dredging works are being carried out by Dredge Masters, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, were inspected.
Dredge Masters was contracted recently by government to carry out emergency dredging of some drains in Accra.
Operations Manager of Dredge Masters, Sena Adiepena told DAILY GUIDE that a total of 22 drains are expected to be desilted within a period of about two months by Dredge Masters to prevent the recurrence of flooding as the raining season sets in.
The Mayor indicated that “Once the desilting is going on we may have less floods but Ghanaians also should assure us that they will stop dumping refuge in the drains, they will also cover the sand in their communities so it will not run into the drains. So it’s a win-win situation. Once you help we’ll also help you,” he said.
In future, AMA will ensure the construction of proper drains that will be able to absorb the water that is generated in Accra in order to address the flood situation, according to him.
He disclosed that “as part of my plans at the AMA, the Assembly is to consider alternative use of waste because oftentimes if the refuse collectors are unable to collect the waste, people then dump them into the drains.”
“Once we make waste to be something that generates cash also for individuals back home, I am sure that people will stop dumping them into the drains,”
Commenting on the tour, the regional minister stated: “It is a good exercise. This is exposing to us a lot of flaws in the drainage systems in the city. I believe when we get back, we will start talking to the AMA and other relevant authorities on how to look at these things once again.”
BY Melvin Tarlue