Opinions of Friday, 3 June 2016

Columnist: BBC

What has changed since last year's deadly fire and flood?

File photo. File photo.

Ghanaians have been remembering the more than 150 people who died in a fire at a petrol station in the capital, Accra, a year ago today.

The fire was caused after petrol spilt into flood waters and was then ignited.

At the time, the flooding was blamed on poor drainage, exacerbated by some drainage channels and rivers being blocked.

The big question a year on is whether anything's changed.

Accra's mayor Alfred Oko Vanderpuije told BBC Focus on Africa radio that the authorities are working to improve things.

But the BBC's Thomas Naadi says that a few weeks ago flooding affected the same area of the city as last year, suggesting that the problem has not been solved.

He adds that there is still no proper drainage in the city, and residents continue to dump rubbish in drains.