Flooding: NADMO ponders prosecutions

Persons whose actions contribute to flooding in the country may be put before court henceforth, authorities at the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have warned.

The disclosure comes after parts of the country were submerged following torrential rains within the week. Several suburbs of Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital, were inundated on Sunday July 2 following a downpour, while a number of areas in Accra and Tema have been under water after rains on Wednesday and earlier in the week.

The rains have also led to the opening of some spillways of the Weija Dam, flooding homes within its catchment.

The Greater Accra regional coordinator of NADMO, Evans Anakwa, speaking on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Thursday July 6, said the deluge in the capital, especially, was because of the siting of illegal structures in waterways, saying buildings within the catchment of the dam, for example, were unauthorised and some residents had resorted to pushing back the water with garbage to a point where it is unable to recede further.

He said there were those who had also built houses over drains or had sited kiosks and containers close to the gutters, impeding the flow of flood waters. Mr Anakwa also condemned the use of drains as refuse dumps by people as it clogs drains, displacing water unto streets and human settlements and causing havoc.

Areas worst affected by such floods in Greater Accra, according to the NADMO official, are Weija, Glefe, Gbegbeyise, Shiabu, and Tema Newtown.

He said NADMO would continue educating residents on the need to desist from practices that lead to flooding.

“We cannot do otherwise than to educate them or sensitise them to leave the place. We do not desire that a disaster befalls anyone,” he told host Chief Jerry Forson. “So it’s a big challenge, but we hope that with the education we are giving it will help a whole lot.”

However, with attitudes not changing and flooding now a yearly fixture in Greater Accra, Mr Anakwa said NADMO was considering liaising with assemblies to get persons whose actions contribute to floods arraigned, given NADMO has no powers of prosecution currently.

“The best thing I have suggested…is that there be serious prosecution and we have started giving out numbers so that anyone who sees these acts should take a photo of them and send to us so we expose them and we’ll put people before court…then it serves as a deterrent…” he disclosed. “For now, before we do those things, we have to liaise with the metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies. The assemblies are mandated to demolish and do all those things.”