A city full of High-jumpers and triple-jumpers

The rains came down hard this year too, just like some of the years before. Its intensity is not too surprising. For the southern parts of Ghana, this is the season of rains. Down they came, the highest so far, being that of Wednesday, 3rd June 2015.

That torrential rain created a lot of floods in the capital, Accra. It caused havoc to property in living rooms, shops and offices in low-lying areas. Since then, the rains have come down in torrents every now and then. The weather forecasters from the Meteorological Services Department have predicted even heavier rains.

If you see a woman raising her skirt and jumping over a hurdle to enter her room, she is not rehearsing for a national Olympics qualifier. And if you see a man hopping, stepping and jumping, he is not preparing for the next Commonwealth Games. It is an adaptation to the act of passing through the remnants of the flood waters that have gathered in the neighbourhood. The recent rains have rendered many residents in the city of Accra jobless, homeless, cloth-less, restless and with all kinds of phobia.

There are those who have lost everything in the rains and floods, except the very dress they were wearing at the time of the floods. There are those who lost family members who were the sole bread-winners of the house-hold. There are others who were miraculously saved, for whatever reason, only God can tell.

There are suburbs that are noted for perennial flooding in the city of Accra. Such areas include but not limited to Odorkor, Mpoase, Odawna, old Dansoman and other low-lying areas.

Many homes in these areas have turned into mini-lagoons. There are no alternatives. You must wade through the waters to get to your area whenever it rains and then jump concrete obstacles or step on cement blocks to enter your room.

How did we get here? It is said that the nature of the soil in Accra is such that it is not able to hold enough water. At the least rain, the land is unable to hold the excess water. This excess water collects on the surface and must find its own way.

In a bid to buy a land and build one’s own house, some bought lands in water-logged areas. Some bought lands that were literally in water bodies. Some residents will tell you, “When we came here first, all those areas beyond was a river.

When the rains came heavily, it entered our compound. Now all those places are residential areas” pointing into the distance. The drains do not flow. The gradients are not steep enough for the water to easily flow. On top of that, the residents have turned the drains into dumping grounds.

This is where they dump their refuse when it is about to rain. Thus, the gutters are choked even before the rains begin. Some of the storm drains are choked with sand and other debris. When the rains come down, therefore, the water does not have enough space in the storm-drains to flow through, especially the covered ones. It has to flow on the surface.

Recalcitrant residents of the capital have put up structures on any available space, including water ways. This does not allow running water to flow through its natural course.

It therefore, has to find its own level, spreading to places it is not wanted. Do the building inspectors supervise to ensure the right thing is done? Yes, they do. Judging by the ‘Stop Work’ signs we see every day in the city. Surprisingly, the buildings go up anyway. The buildings are completed and put to use. Services like water and electricity are provided to the same buildings.

The provision of national infrastructure is not moving in tandem with the rate private residence is springing up. The buildings go up before the roads and other services come. When the roads are finally constructed, many compounds fall lower than the road. Every rain collects in the house. There may not be money to reconstruct. People either battle with the rains or move out to higher grounds.

If last year, you jumped over a layer of block work to enter your room, chances are that you have to jump higher this year to enter the same room, thanks to the factors enumerated above.

Such has been the nature of the situation over the years, so our city has become full of high-jumpers and triple-jumpers. These ‘high-jumpers’ and ‘triple-jumpers’ have to braze themselves to jump higher and longer each year.

Raising the obstacles to prevent flood waters from entering one’s house is determined by the height of the flood waters in the previous year in one’s neighbourhood. Each year, the obstacle is raised a little higher. With time, some would have to climb higher and squeeze through a hole at the top of the door to enter their room.

Some of the suburbs in the city of Accra are now littered with people who literally have to jump obstacles upon obstacles to enter their rooms. Others have to hop, step and jump to move from one part of their suburb to another. They are not preparing for the next Olympic Games; they are just managing their plight.

The next time you see a woman raising her skirt or “kaba slit”, she is not about to urinate, like our women do. Neither is she rehearsing for the next Olympic Games.

So also, when you see a man hopping, stepping and jumping, it is not for the fun of it. He is not preparing for the next Commonwealth Games. It is an adaptation to the act of passing through the neighbourhoods, entering one’s compound and then into one’s room.

Must we throw our hands in the air and watch? No. Government’s pace of road construction cannot, currently, out-pace the rate at which the citizens put up residences.

Therefore, when next you want to start a building project, raise the foundation higher than normal. Definitely, when the roads are constructed many years later, the worst case scenario is that, your house would be levelled with the road. You will then avoid a lot of worries.

All other solutions would heavily depend on successive governments. They must be proactive. Officials of relevant institutions must put their foot on the ground. Attitudes must change etc. until then, one must guard his own.