As part of urgent steps to solve the area’s ongoing flooding, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has announced intentions to conduct a cleanup effort at the Agbogbloshie plantain market this Saturday.
The cleanup effort is one of the events commemorating National Sanitation Day, which falls on the first Saturday of each month.
The decision comes after Mr. Douglas Annoful, the Assembly’s Coordinating Director, conducted an inspection visit to the market on Tuesday to look into measures to stop frequent flooding, especially during periods of heavy rain.
Speaking to market leaders, Mr. Annoful praised the traders for their efforts to make the market a better place. He emphasized that even though some areas of the market had been cemented since the last visit, flooding was still a problem, which is why the inspection was conducted.
“We’ve observed that not all the areas were cemented, but we can see some improvements now. However, the water is still an issue, so we had to come again,” he explained.
He revealed that the Assembly would do a cleanup this Saturday, in advance of National Sanitation Day, as part of the urgent interventions to make sure that any water diverted through the drains will flow smoothly without interfering with market operations.
The technical scope of the planned intervention was described by Mr. Samuel Lartey Mantey, Acting Head for the Works Department at AMA, who pointed out that the work would entail fixing damaged drains and setting up a suitable water flow system inside the market.
“As part of the scope of work, we will be undertaking repair works on some broken drains and creating a connection point where surface water can be collected and directed into the main drain,” he stated.
He said that in order to guarantee that water flows properly from the market into the main drain, the team would also work on adjusting the ground gradient.
”We will reshape the surface to create a suitable gradient so that stormwater flows efficiently into the main drain and does not reverse back into the market area. This is critical to preventing further flooding and ensuring the sustainability of the intervention,” Mr. Mantey explained.
Along with Mr. Annoful were the Head of Public Affairs, the Chairman of the Works Committee, the Director and Chairman for Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metropolitan District, and representatives from the Metro Works Department.
Source: newsthemegh.com