Prof. Martin Oteng-Ababio, Board Chairman of the Forest Plantation Development Fund, has questioned the effectiveness of desilting the Odaw River as a long-term solution to Accra’s perennial flooding challenge.
For years, successive governments have undertaken dredging exercises along sections of the Odaw River around Circle in efforts to reduce recurring floods in the capital.
Speaking in an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, May 26, Prof. Oteng-Ababio argued that the approach does not address the root causes of flooding.
“The desilting of the Odaw River is not an antidote to the flooding situation in Accra. It’s a wrong approach because we need to get to the source of what is happening upstream,” he said.
According to him, government should instead focus on acquiring land in strategic upstream areas to construct retention ponds or pumping systems to slow the flow of water from the hills into the Odaw basin.
He explained that fast-moving water carries large amounts of sediment downstream, which later settles in the flatter sections of the river, resulting in siltation.
Prof. Oteng-Ababio also dismissed suggestions that poor waste management is the primary cause of flooding in Accra.
He noted that waste only becomes a major problem when mixed with silt deposits, which then clog drains and gutters.
“The speed at which the water is coming will carry the waste away. It only becomes a problem when we have a lot of silt coming from the top and it mixes with the waste, then it chokes the gutter,” he explained.
The environmental expert further attributed Ghana’s inability to effectively tackle perennial flooding to what he described as a lack of political will.
