June 3 flood disaster: Don’t forget the victims - Herbet Mensah to Ghanaians

The President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union, Herbert Mensah has called on Ghanaians not to forget the victims of the June 3 flood disaster in the country.

June 3, 2015, will forever be indelible in the minds of Ghanaians as it became a day of depression for the country with over 150 souls perishing at a glance, others sustained various degree of injuries due to a heavy rainfall in Accra that turned to a storm and caused a heavy flood in the nation’s largest city.

The over 150 lives, children, women and men were snuffed out in the most horrifying circumstances when the rain turned into a storm, the storm into floods; the floods gave way to fire and the fire left behind charred bodies, burnt properties in an unplanned city

The rain started on 1 June 2015 through to that awful day with many citing the improper planning of settlement in Accra, choked gutters that block the drainage system and a few other human factors as the caused of that tragic incident in the history of Ghana.

Fast forward Thursday, June 3, 2021 marked exactly six years since the tragic incident happened and Herbert Mensah who has been an advocate in educating Ghanaians to improve on sanitation to prevent another tragedy, has appealed to Ghanaians to remember those who were perished on that day and desist from habits that can cause another mayhem.

He recounted who he reached out to some companies to offer a helping hands to those who were affected by the incident and added that he was shocked when how the unfortunate incident happened, stating that “it was like a nightmare or a dream, it was horrible.”

The astute sports administrator also applauded the government for the necessary steps in dealing with flood issues in the nation.

He believes the efforts from government in dealing with the drainage system in the country is “a welcoming one”

This comes after the Ministry of Works and Housing as part of ensuring that flood issues are addressed revealed that since 2017, the government has invested five hundred and fifty-nine million Ghana cedis (Gh¢10m) in the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Program, an initiative in curtailing flood in Ghana during the rainy season.

The ministry in a release stated that the government will continue to invest resources across the country to ensure that flooding challenges are addressed and also build resilience against future flood risk.

They also entreated Ghanaians to complement the government efforts in dealing with flood in the country be adhering to proper disposal waste.

In the release, advise was given to homebuilders to desist from the practice of paving their compounds entirely by considering the introduction of vegetation in order to reduce the volume of storm water runoffs from their compounds to the public drainage.