World Bank Resident Director tours flood affected communities

Ashaiman (GAR), June 24, GNA - Mr Ishac Diwan, World Bank Country Director accompanied by Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) on Thursday toured some flood affected communities to assess damage caused by the rain. Some communities visited include, Ashaiman-Lebanon, Ashaiman-Jericho and Tema Community 5.

Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said the tour was to assess the aftermath of the floods and efforts by government in the short-medium term to assist affected communities.

"The technical experts on the tour would help assess the situation and offer technical expert assistance to solve the problem, "he added. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah explained that sub-metropolitan assemblies within Accra Metropolis had master plans on drainage and government was working hard to expedite action to fast-track the plans in the light of the current development.

Nii Laryea Affotey-Agbo, Minister of State at the Presidency, said government was mobilizing funds to assist the flood victims. He said government would set up a task force to investigate the cause of the floods, to assess the damage and to make recommendations for implementation.

Nii Affotey-Agbo said in the interim, government would provide the affected communities with food and shelter to calm nerves down. He noted that if the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) had not demolished some structures on the waterways, more lives would have been lost and urged residents to move out of their structures anytime it rained. Nii Affotey-Agbo attributed the cause of the flood to an overflow of the Akatamansu Dam, due to the rains, and suggested that the small drainage systems should be expanded to make way for water to flow easily to avoid future disaster.

Mr Diwan said it was a wake-up call for all the communities to maintain and have proper construction of houses since there was rapid urbanization in the affected areas. He promised to bring the donor community together to see how best they could assist Ghana to improve on her drainage system. Mr Diwan said government could not manage every neighborhood and called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to intervene with financial and human resources. 24 June 10