$30m needed to curb flooding

The Government requires $30 million to resolve the problem of perennial flooding in Accra.

The Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, who disclosed this in an interview after a visit to the New Times Corporation (NTC) to assess the damage caused to its property after the floods, said the money will be used to construct a number of canals and drains in flood-prone areas in the city.

Reacting to concerns raised by some residents of Accra about the inaction of government to deal with the perennial problem, which has been described in certain circles as ?an annual ritual?, the minister asked the public to bear with statutory agencies as they make the efforts to bring order and discipline into the way development activities are carried out in the city.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said the institutions tasked with the responsibility to ensure the proper planning of the city require time and money to put things right.

He said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), for instance, has done a lot since the floods hit Accra last year, adding that ?some demolitions have taken place while canals have been constructed to divert the water from houses sited on water courses?.

The minister indicated that as the AMA and the Ministry of Works and Housing do their best to end the nightmare that residents go through during the rainy season, they will require the support and the understanding of the media and members of the public to achieve results.

He revealed that the AMA has been tasked to organise a forum to make public some of the steps that it has taken since last year to curb indiscipline in the construction of structures in the city.

He added that it may take about two years for the statutory agencies to correct the wrongs that have been done in the construction industry in the city to allow for the free flow of water during the raining season.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said while a section of the public has called on government to be resolute about its plans to demolish structures causing floods in the city, others have called on the authorities to put a human face to the exercise. He made it clear, however, that those who have built on waterways or put up illegal structures will not receive any compensation, while in areas where canals were built to save some structures their owners have been surcharged with the cost of the construction of the canals.

Mr Obetsebi -Lamptey, however, intimated that the time has come for government to take very tough decisions to deal with the problem of the perennial floods. He expressed regret that because of the intransigence of some developers and squatters, the government is losing about $74,000 daily because of the suspension of work on the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said phase two of the project has delayed because of decision of the squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah not to quit thereby stalling work on the phase one of the project.

He said in line with the government?s decision to be tough with illegal developers, various governmental agencies have began meetings in Accra to devise strategies to implement plans which have been on paper for a very long time.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey stated that the agencies will consider steps to take for the immediate eviction of squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah and destruction of structures on waterways, construction of more canals around some houses in swampy areas and the development of good drains in the city.

He added that although some of the tough decision will be unpleasant, it has become necessary to implement them to prevent the loss of lives and destruction to property.

On the flooding at the NTC, he commended the management and staff for cleaning the corporation in order to sustain its operations.

He said this is a clear demonstration of team work and urged them to continue in that spirit.

The Managing Director of NTC, Mr Nabanyin Pratt, appealed to the city authorities to expand the drainage system at the Awudome Cemetery and NTC to contain large volumes of flood waters.

He said it is the inability of these two drains to contain large volume of water that caused the flooding at the corporation.

Mr Pratt said property worth millions of cedis was destroyed and called for immediate steps to be taken to forestall any future damage. In a related development, the AMA Chief Executive, Mr Solomon Ofei Darko, said that officials from the Town and Country Planning Department are inspecting the building permits of residents in the flood prone areas, reports Mabel Aku Baneseh.

He said, the officials have been mandated to demolish all houses that have been built without permit.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Darko explained that the technical committee established by the government to check the perennial flooding in the metropolis is providing relief items such as clothes, food, and blankets among others to residents affected by the floods.

The chief executive gave the assurance that the AMA will do everything possible to solve the perennial flooding problems in the metropolis once and for all.