One of the affected houses
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has served notice to demolish all houses sited on waterways within the Kumasi metro.
It comes on the back of Sunday’s two-hour downpour that caused the most areas to flood, resulting in the death of a three-year old boy at Pankrono Estate in Kumasi.
Several properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis were lost to floods.
The rain caused severe flooding in areas like Aboabo, Airport Roundabout, Moshie Zongo, Pankrono Estate and Abrepo.
One life was lost at Pankrono Estate, as hundreds of people were displaced and property destroyed by the heavy rain. Most of the affected houses are built on waterways, thus blocking the free flow of water.
NADMO officials toured the affected areas to ascertain the level of destruction and to console victims for their loss.
At Airport Roundabout and Moshie Zongo suburbs, Deputy Coordinator of NADMO in charge of Operations, Abu Ramadan, was shocked at the indiscriminate erection of structures on water ways.
He hinted of a demolition exercise to forestall the recurrence of such man-made disasters. “This is no natural disaster but man-made. We have to pull down certain structures to allow water find its way. We shouldn’t experience man-made disaster of this nature anymore.
We will move equipment to the Ashanti Region hopefully before Friday for demolition and desilting purposes. We urge all those who have build on waterways to get ready to move,” he warned
The Ashanti Regional NADMO Coordinator, Kwabena Senkyire, assured the victims of some relief items from the Organization.
With the onset of the rains, residents living in flood-prone areas have been advised to relocate to safe places.
