Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has argued that the government’s two-day clean-up exercise is insufficient to address the scale of destruction caused by the devastating floods that hit parts of Accra and other areas on June 29, insisting that Ghana urgently needs a comprehensive national sanitation policy.
Speaking on the Floor of Parliament on Tuesday, July 14, Afenyo-Markin said while community clean-up exercises are important in restoring affected areas after flooding, they should not be mistaken for a long-term solution to the country’s recurring flood challenges.
According to him, the severity of the June 29 floods demonstrated the urgent need for a coordinated and sustainable approach to sanitation, drainage management and flood prevention rather than temporary interventions.
The Minority Leader recalled that during parliamentary discussions on the flooding, the Minister for the Interior had assured the House that government would introduce a comprehensive policy to tackle the perennial flooding situation and its underlying causes.
“The Minister for the Interior made a statement on this flood situation indicating that government will come with a comprehensive policy on this flood situation and how to address it. Mr. Speaker, I submit that it is not enough to declare two days for the purpose of clean-up.
“The clean-up exercise is not the solution. The solution is a well-thought-out policy on sanitation. That is what we need as a country and it is becoming too late in the day.
“Any government determined to solve a problem of the magnitude of which we saw will, without delay, announce a national policy on sanitation.”
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