Sanitation and Desilting company, Dredge Masters has indicated that dredging of the Odaw River to avert flooding in the capital will be completed within a year.
According to the company, dredging of major drains in Accra must become a routine exercise to avert flooding.
Addressing the media after inspecting works on the OdawRiver, Operations Manager for Dredge Masters, Sena Adiepena said dredging will prevent flooding and its accompanying problems in the capital.
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“Equipment have been deployed. Planning and side visits with the client and consultants was done in March and looking at the progress of work, we are hopeful that this year we will be able to do enough to avert any disaster. We are hoping that in less than a year, we will be able to complete this work,” Mr. Adiepena said.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea, has already told Parliament, the dredging of the lower section of the Odaw river will commence immediately.
This he said is part of the government’s critical management plan to deal with perennial flooding especially in Accra.
Briefing Parliament on the Ministry’s plans to deal with flooding a few days ago, Atta-Akyea outlined some drainage projects which will commence across the country.
He said the projects will cost about GHc194.5 million.
“With regards to the Odaw River which has been causing perennial flooding in the nation’s capital, improvement works have begun on some sections of the channel…Meanwhile, the Ministry has renewed the contract with Dredge Masters for another two years.”
Meanwhile, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, says the Ministry may not be able to carry out its plans due to the irregular release of funds.
“We want to reform a drainage system of our country and do away with open drains. I only can empathize with you because you cannot do much without money. These releases from the Ministry of Finance do not come early.”
Water spilt from chocked drains unto the roads in some parts of Accra after the recent downpour, killing five people and destroying properties.
Development and urban planner, Kofi Kekeli Amedzro suggested that the government and city authorities must re-engineer Accra to end the perennial flooding in the capital.
He said the government must commit enough financial resources to tackle the problem.
“We have to engineer an integrated waste management system that is able to ensure that the solid waste doesn’t get into the main drain system. As a matter of priority, we need to ensure that this becomes a key issue to invest in. We can’t wait for it to become a major flash-point for discussion every year. If we are serious about this, we have to invest massively in it and ensure that all the engineering works are done,” he said on The Point of View on Monday.
Floods show Gov’t can’t make Accra the cleanest city – Zanetor Rawlings
The NDC Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle Constituency, Zanetor Rawlings has also indicated that the Akufo-Addo administration won’t be able to make the national capital, Accra, the cleanest city in Africa by 2020.
According to her, the almost three-year-old agenda smacks of failure as the city continues to struggle to manage waste.
“I don’t see the necessary things in place for it to happen. You are still seeing the rubbish everywhere. The amount of rubbish left behind when the water receded after the flooding [on Sunday] was quite phenomenal.”
“We are in our third year since that promise was made. Accra is nowhere near becoming the cleanest city in West Africa, let alone on the continent,” she added.
Source: Citinewsroom
