Voice Of Developing Communities (VODEC), is calling on Ghanaians who are living on waterways not to forget flooding so soon, because it can rain anytime, and we needs to be alert.
This issue came up during our visit to the Pokuase market and to our utmost surprise how the gutters has been choked with refuse into gutters and drains waiting for the rain water to carry them away. Voice Of Developing Communities wants the Meteorological Services Department to aid many of our development efforts, such as the Aviation and Maritime industries, to help solve the problem, by Government retooling the Ghana Meteorological Agency, to carry its mandate of predicting the weather correctly, and with the past experience and available data, the authorities are expected to appropriate measures to solve the flooding problem in Ghana. Left to VODEC alone we will say the solution does not lie in demolishing the houses but also look at the best way to decentralized government structures to empower the regions to create more jobs for the people to cut off the migration to the national capital that create accommodation problems for developers to solve by building anywhere for their money only to serve as death traps for people anytime the rains fall.
Public awareness plays central role in the implementation of these programmes, focusing on attitudinal and perceptional change towards waste management, sustainable use and equitable sharing calls for social change.
Engineering body needs to be set up to plan and undertake a comprehensive drainage scheme for Accra, expanding the existing drainage structures and constructing additional ones that conform to high quality engineering standards to cope with increasing volume of rain water.
Producers of Sachet Water also needs to desist from dumping of materials which will cause flooding in Ghana and authorities should check human activities of indiscipline and negligence as well as lack of adequate and effective drainage structures to take care of the flood waters and advocating for the separation of waste in Ghana. Indiscriminate disposal of refuse has led to the choking of drains, gutters and culverts, he added.
Drainage systems are therefore too narrow to contain the flood waters and houses are built on waterways because of illegal Building permit issued by Building Operating Officers blocking the flow of rain water, while poor town planning policies and programmes also contribute to the problem.
SIGNED
Abroni Thomas
Executive Director +233547000337
