Posted on June 2, 2016
Only 30 per cent of work has been done dredging the Odaw drain and Korle Lagoon, one year after the twin fire and flood disaster claimed over 150 lives.
It would take at least two years to complete the dredging, Communications Manager for Zoomlion, Robert Coleman told Joy News Editor Dzifa Bampoh.
Mr Coleman was speaking on behalf of Dredge Masters, a company tasked to dredge the lagoon.
The choked lagoon was chiefly blamed for the twin disaster in June last year. The lagoon over flowed its bank after a heavy downpour, with the flood water moving into homes and offices sited close to the lagoon.
In the midst of the flood, fire broke out at the Goil filling station at Circle leaving in its wake charred bodies of trapped residents.
It was a national disaster, one which triggered a blame campaign. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly came out bruised with many Ghanaians blaming it for failing to dredge the Korle Lagoon, which was at the time choked with filth.
After the disaster, the AMA began an exercise to desilt the lagoon but it appears nothing much has been done.
Robert Coleman in the interview said serious dredging of the Korle Lagoon began in December 2015.
He said the “volume of silted material found in the lagoon is more than what was initially estimated,” adding, the lagoon has about 19 tributaries all of which discharge filthy materials into the lagoon.
This, he said, has made dredging a lot more difficult.
Robert Coleman said a lot of work is being done on the lagoon and he hopes the lagoon at the moment should be in the position to hold a lot of rain
When he was asked about the cost of the project, the Communications Manager said he could not divulge that information.
He said the company is unable to say the volume of trash in the lagoon and can therefore not say the amount of money involved in dredging the lagoon.
Source: MyJoyOnline
