Accra floods unite major political party leaders

Leaders of four major political parties in the country, on Thursday joined forces and toured flood-hit areas in Accra.

The leadership included Mr Kofi Portuphy of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Paul Afoko of the New Patriotic Party, Alhaji Ahmed Ramandan of the People National Convention, and Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah of the Convention Peoples Party.

The leaders collectively called for a national effort to deal with the perennial flooding in Accra.

They also pledged for a bi-partisan support to the government to take drastic measures to deal with the situation

The political leaders also urged President John Dramani Mahama to act immediately to deal with the causes of the floods, especially properties in water ways.

Meanwhile, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) monitoring team observed that scores of companies along flood-prone areas of Accra were also submerged in flood waters.

Major casualty areas included the Graphic road where GNA observed that a number of automobile companies experienced flood waters gushing through their offices.

The affected companies included Pepsi, Rana Motors Toyota, Zenith Bank and Hassanco Enterprise.

Scores of Ghanaians have thronged to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to catch glimpses of the burnt GOIL filling station that killed more than 90 people, and consumed other structures.

The station near the GCB Bank towers, was gutted by fire on Wednesday amidst heavy flooding, and more than 90 persons have been confirmed dead as a result of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama said government has no option than to employ “drastic” measures to stop the perennial flooding of the country’s capital city.

He pointed out that only a scientific and strategic approach to solving the infrastructural design of Accra will see an end to the seasonal catastrophe.

President Mahama made these remarks during a tour of some flood-hit areas in some parts of Accra.

While observing that Accra was a flood-prone city as a result of its location, President Mahama pointed out that human activity was also a contributory factor to the disaster.

“Littering in the drains and all that make it difficult for the water that is coming from the mountains to reach the sea,” he said.

President Mahama expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and commended the security services for their swift reaction in fighting to minimize the number of casualties.

“This loss of lives is catastrophic, almost unprecedented.”

He said he and other government officials had not slept throughout the night “monitoring what was happening.

“We will have to take some measures to be able to avoid this happening in the future,” President Mahama announced.

“Often when these measures are drastic, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take those measures but I think that the time has come for us to remove houses out of water ways and the public should understand that it is necessary to save everybody else.”

The heavy floods swept through Accra, causing devastating damage to life and property, while major roads have become unmotorable.

The floods destroyed homes, cut off electricity and forced the closure of schools and shops.

The Ghana News Agency team which toured parts of the capital observed rescuers pulling bodies from drains.

Officials are yet to come out with the number of casualties as a result of the torrential rains.

Rescuers were also busy pulling out several scorched bodies at the Ghana Oil Company filling station next to the Ghana Commercial Bank at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, which was totally burned down amidst the torrential rains.

The fire which started from the GOIL Filling Station near the GCB Towers, spread to about five residential buildings, and set several cars parked in that area ablaze.