Former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, has underscored the critical importance of desilting major drainage channels as part of efforts to prevent the perennial flooding that continues to plague Accra during the rainy season.
His comments come in the wake of the devastating floods that swept through several parts of the capital on Monday, June 29, following hours of torrential rainfall that submerged roads, homes and businesses, disrupted traffic, and left many residents stranded.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, July 4, Afotey-Agbo argued that authorities had sufficient warning to prepare for the heavy rains and should have taken proactive measures to minimise the impact.
According to him, while the demolition of unauthorised structures carried out by the Greater Accra Regional Security Council was a necessary step, it should have been followed by an aggressive desilting exercise to ensure that the city’s drainage network was capable of carrying floodwaters.
He maintained that local assemblies had a responsibility to immediately clear the drains after the demolition exercise instead of waiting until the rains had already begun.
“If reports had been given earlier of heavy rain, then we should have prepared for what happened. We should have recruited people and worked on the drains. We should have focused on the Kpeshie Lagoon and the Ramsar sites which we did by carrying out the demolition of unauthorised structures.
“Desilting of the drains should have followed immediately after the demolition exercise to ensure that the major drains were ready for the floodwaters.”
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