Posted on May 26, 2016
Government has released funds for the desilting of major drains in the national capital and the Tema Metropolitan Area (TMA), to deal with the perennial flooding problem in Accra and other parts of the country.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo revealed this to Citi News.
On Sunday, some parts of the capital were flooded even though the AMA had earlier claimed it had been working to ensure the problem is rectified.
The Minister however said government is still committed to addressing the problem.
He revealed that government is expecting about 10 million dollars to deal with the problem.
“Money is to be given out, about 10 million dollars to be used to clean our gutters and then get them sealed. We will put concrete in those gutters so that when it rains we will not have these problems at all. We are trying move from where we are now.
“We are not going to leave our gutters to be the way they are as I speak to you. We are going to award contracts .The contracts will be awarded by the Local government…”
Drastic measures
After the June 3 disaster that killed about 150 people, President Mahama declared that government will take drastic measures to reduce the impact of floods and fires.
The President said that government has often been forced to compromise in tackling the issue because of residents who build on waterways in the capital.
“We have to take some measures to avoid this in the future. Often when these measures are drastic, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take these measures. But I think the time has come for us to move houses out of the waterways. The public should understand that it is necessary to take such measures to save everybody else,” the President stated.
Korle Lagoon Dredging
As part of measures to address the perennial flooding problem, government has contracted a subsidiary of Zoomlion, Dredge Masters, to desilt the Korle Lagoon.
The dredging began today [Monday] after marauding floods wrecked havoc to many homes, and is expected to take a few days to end.
Source: citifmonline
