Government committed to preventing flloods this year

Government is fully committed to ensuring that the disaster on June 3, 2015 does not repeat itself, the Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has assured.

According to him, that was the reason the Akufo-Addo administration has since that national disaster been frequently dredging and desilting the drains in especially flood-prone areas in Accra.

The works and housing minister gave the assurance when he embarked on an inspection of various dredging sites of the Odo Lagoon in Accra yesterday.

He intimated that the exercise which was the third phase of dredging the lagoon was to ensure the safety of lives of Ghanaians, especially as the rains will set in soon.

Mr Asenso-Boakye further said the government's commitment was evident in the regular dredging of drains to allow free flow of water into the sea without a repeat of any disaster.

The tour also enabled the minister to have first-hand information on dredging works so far on the lagoon.

Corroborating what the minister said, the Operations Manager of Dredge Masters Limited (DML), a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), Mr Sena Kofi Adiepena, also assured that his outfit was working assiduously to prevent floods this year.

He said this explains why his company was undertaking the third phase of dredging of the lagoon.

Speaking to journalists at the dredging site near the Korle Lagoon, the DML operations manager indicated that with the extent of dredging works done on the lagoon, it was unlikely the Odo will flood this year.

Though he expressed satisfaction with works done so far, he bemoaned the continuous stay of squatters around the banks of the lagoon.

That situation, he said, posed serious challenges to the dredging works of DML.

"While we were working on the lagoon… by the time we returned to the various sites, squatters had dumped refuse into the lagoon again. This is having a serious negative impact on our work," Mr Adiepena lamented.

This is why we are appealing to the Housing Ministry to relocate the squatters,” he appealed.

According to him, the ongoing works were at 60% and therefore, expected to be completed within 45 days.

“The third phase of dredging is to ensure that all deposits from the activities of squatters are removed from the Odo to ensure the proper management of the lagoon, and also to facilitate the flow water through the lagoon into the sea without sediments from refuse being dumped into the lagoon by squatters,” he explained.

Mr Adiepena recounted that the first dredging works began from 2015 to 2019, which was later extended to help scoop deposits of refuse in the lagoon to allow water flow swiftly into the sea.