Posted on May 23, 2022
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly, A.M.A says dredging has been going on at the two major drains in Accra, as part of measures to free all choked drains in the city to improve flow of rainwater and prevent flooding.
Speaking to GBC News’ Jacob Aggrey, Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Gilbert Ankrah noted that desilting and dredging the drains may not be enough to prevent flooding, therefore other measures may be deployed to end the perennial flooding in the city.
He added that the Ministry of Works and Housing will embark on a project that will ensure that most of the drains are reconstructed to be able to accommodate rainwater.
A.M.A urges residents to be responsible to end perennial flooding, while dredging of the capital continuous.
“Dredging is ongoing to ensure that when the water comes because Accra is a low lying area so all the water tends to come towards our end of the city. So it’s quite important that the major basins are dredged so that when the water comes it will be able to hold it. The Ministry of Works and Housing project is currently about to embark on a project to ensure that most of the drains are reconstructed and re-engineered to be able to accommodate a lot of the rainwater when they come. We are quite hopeful that some of these things will go a long way to address the issue of flooding”.
Mr. Ankrah urged residents of Accra to be responsible by clearing their drains, stressing that the city will not avoid floods if residents continue to be irresponsible.
“As residents within the city, we have a responsibility to play because if you look at most of the dredging and desilting, we are expected to clear silt from the drains but people are dumping refuse, all sort of waste in the drains and this are blocking the water ways. One of areas we desilted around the circle area. You will find tires which have been dumped in the drains. All these are unacceptable. We must be responsible citizens”.
Mr. Gilbert Ankrah also attributed the occasional flooding to climate change and variability.
” Issues of climate change is also playing a role that’s why we are seeing the volumes we are seeing. As an assembly, we have the Accra climate action plan which is a guide to ensure that we reduce the emissions so that at the long run, we will be able to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce flooding eventually”.
