The lack of a Master Plan for various cities, especially flood prone areas in the capital, has been blamed for the perennial flooding. Smaller drainage systems have also been sighted as a major contributory factor to the floods.
These issues came up during GBC’s Current Affairs Programme “Talking Point” which discussed the recent flooding in Accra. An Environmental and Water Resources Engineer, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Francis Nartey Ocansey, bemoaned the haphazard nature of building without recourse to where such structures should be cited. He noted that until such structures on water ways are removed, flooding will persist.
The latest flooding incident which occurred last Monday through to Tuesday affected areas such as Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Kaneshie, Teshie, Adabraka, Weija among others. Many people were left counting their losses after the downpour. The situation prompted a directive by the President to MMDAs to remove all illegal structures to allow free flow of water.
Also on the programme was the Director of Inspection at NADMO, Richard Amo Nartey. He expressed worry about how people build along waterways.
”The continuous dumping of refuse into drains is also a major cause of flooding.”
He said even though NADMO is mandated to come to the aid of disaster victims, citizens must do their bit to avoid flood situations.