Tema factories under threat of flood

Factories located in the heavy industrial area at Tema are seriously under the threat of floods due to the poor drainage system, should the rains set in heavily again.

Should the rains come as predicted by the Meteorological Services Department, most raw materials, finished goods and equipment stored in the various the factories are likely to be damaged by flood.

A tour carried out by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in parts of the city, particularly the industrial area in the aftermath of the recent rains showed that the big drains are choked with weeds and filth while developers, possibly factory owners have built structures and walls over some of the drains.

This practice prevents the free flow of water in the drains as it overflows and spreads to offices, stores and warehouses of the factories, destroying goods, materials and equipment. At the J. M. Products Ghana Limited, producers of hair products flood water which was at the waist level had broken the walls, leaving the factory exposed, while water damaged some of the equipment.

Mrs Margaret Blavo, Managing Director, who looked disturbed, had engaged the services of some persons to put things in order by removing the pieces of blocks and debris from the drains.

She said the company pays an annual fee of 1.2 million cedis to the Tema Municipal Assembly (TMA) for sewer maintenance, but the TMA failed to do any work on the drains, adding that, it would cost about 500 million cedis to re-build the walls and renovate the damaged areas.

The story was not different at the Nestle Ghana Limited (NGL), where management displayed their skills by arranging the goods on packed pallets, which prevented damage, which would have caused loss of billions of cedis.

Companies like the Japan Motors Limited had their fair share of the floods, while in the communities, particularly community seven some women had their clothing and some personal effects washed away by the flood.

When contacted, Mr Samuel Evans Ashong Narh, Tema Municipal Chief Executive who had earlier gone round the affected areas described the situation as serious and said he had asked the Engineers Department of the TMA to assess the situation for immediate attention.