Only 2% of works required to end Accra floods done – Works & Housing Minister

Residents of Accra, the capital of Ghana, will continue to endure flooding whenever it rains for the foreseeable future.

Only 2% of the drainage works needed to address the capital's post-rain flooding has been completed.

According to the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, this development has triggered his demand for a drainage master plan from the hydrological survey department, aimed at ending the recurring floods.

Addressing the media in Parliament, the Ofoase Ayirebi MP disclosed that an inter-ministerial committee engagement is scheduled to address this issue.

"What we requested was the drainage master plan for the flood control program. The report we have indicates that, in the Greater Accra Region, for example, only about 2% of the necessary work has been completed, which is what we, as a Republic, have collectively invested in. That is why, even with a regular amount of rainfall, you see the challenges we are facing. Some parts of that project are being handled by the GARIP program, which is behind schedule. We need the consultants, the World Bank team, and the contractor to speed up a bit so that we can get the work done.

"In the Kaneshie area, for example, we need to compensate those who require it to move them away and start the drainage works there, so that the perennial floods in those areas are curbed. It has been delayed, but we are going through the processes. Next week, I have a meeting with the inter-ministerial committee. Now that the top-up funds have been made available, my colleagues and I, along with the project implementation unit, will be working to ensure that we can catch up as quickly as possible."