Ghanaian Times: Time to adopt radical means to solve flooding in the city

It has now become a yearly ritual for the Ghanaian Times to comment on flooding in Accra during the raining season.

This is because no matter how prepared we are, Accra will be flooded at a great cost for people living in flood-prone areas.

In all honesty, it has become a boring chore writing flood stories because no matter the number of stories written, the situation remains the same year after year.

It is therefore, no wonder that the capital city on Wednesday, once again experienced another flood after a downpour leading to the death of six people and loss of property running into millions of cedis.

It has been pointed out time without number that the floods in Accra are man-made and are mostly triggered by seasonal rainfall combined with poor drainage, the dumping of waste and illegal settlements in waterways.

As already known, the floods often result in significant damage to private property, including homes and businesses.

Losses occur due to damage to both the structure and contents of buildings. Worse still, most floods kill people and displace others every year.

It is for this reason that we propose a radical approach in resolving the problem that has persisted over the years.

We propose that a nationwide campaign be launched to demolish all illegal structures sited in waterways in all parts of the country with the owners paying for the cost of the demolishing exercise.

Henceforth, the district assemblies and their respective chief executives should be taken on if they give permit to people to build on waterways and create problems for all of us.

As a local authority, the assemblies must be seen to be part of the solution and not the problem because of the interest of a few people.

Sadly, if you visit the Ghanaian Times library, you will find flood stories that date about 60 years back. Nothing seems to have changed except perhaps, the people involved.

The June 3 flood and fire disaster which claimed over 100 lives and maimed several others should be a constant reminder of the urgent need to address the flood issues.



There should be a deliberate attempt by both the government and the citizenry to face this situation head-on.

While the citizenry should desist from building in water ways and throwing rubbish into drains, the government must invest in drainage to avert flood as well as enforce the law.

We know we cannot solve the flood problem at a go but the change we envisage must begin with us.