The Board Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has attributed the recurring flooding in Accra and other parts of the country to the failure to implement recommendations contained in the Ghana Infrastructure Plan.
According to him, many of the devastating floods experienced in recent years could have been avoided or significantly minimised if the plan had been implemented when it was developed in 2017.
Speaking in an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, June 9, Dr Thompson said the infrastructure blueprint outlined comprehensive measures to address flooding across the country.
“It’s quite avoidable. What we’re seeing shouldn’t have happened. The impact would have been minimal. The Ghana Infrastructure Plan talks about what we have to do about flooding, not just in Accra but also in other parts of the country,” he said.
Dr Thompson explained that the plan proposed a range of interventions, including drainage improvements, flood control measures and coastal protection projects.
“It included institutional arrangements for flood control and coastal protection and addressed Accra and other urban drainage challenges, including flood management practices. We talked about all these things in 2017 and put them in a book, and nobody worked with it,” he stated.
He argued that implementing the plan would have reduced the severity and frequency of flooding incidents.
“We should have put in place the proposals made in there, which are supposed to be institutional reforms, policy reforms, actual implementations and a spatial development framework,” he added.
Dr Thompson’s comments come in the wake of recent flooding incidents in parts of Accra that displaced residents and prompted the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other agencies to demolish structures considered a threat to lives and property.
