At Accra’s Mallam Junction, President John Dramani Mahama has directed the repair of a Ramsar site and a water retention basin.
The private company Caitec Motors has essentially filled the area beneath the Mallam Junction Interchange with gravel and transformed it into a plane field so that it is ready for habitation.
Stan Xoese Dogbe, the deputy chief of staff and chairman of the government’s anti-flooding task force, briefed the president before he started a working tour of several flood-prone regions in the city.
The task team conducted an aircraft reconnaissance about two weeks before the tour, which was conducted in preparation for the next rainy season.
The President and his group visited Achimota, Kaneshie First Light, and Odawna at Circle, among other flood-prone locations.
Mr. Dogbe clarified that homes downstream in Sakaman and nearby settlements are inundated at the slightest rainfall due to the encroachment on the water route.
“Mr. President, we can do all the clearing upstream, but if this siltation stays, the flooding around this area will continue and probably worsen,” Stan Dogbe reported to the President.
President Mahama stated that the water retention area’s siltation was a threat to human life as well as property.
He claimed that the requirement to implement environmental bylaws without fear or favor was not the result of the government’s lack of commercial sympathies.
He made fun of the Ga South Municipal Assembly for watching as they filled a restricted area with gravel.
“Can you imagine the volume of water this place alone can hold when it rains? If you fill it up and say there should be a drain passing through, the drain cannot contain the amount of water,” he said.
President Mahama asked contractors to expedite drainage projects in advance of the rainy season during the Kaneshie First Light.
In order to prevent flooding in the enclave during downpours, he urged dredging contractors near the Odaw River to expedite their operations.
Two days prior to his field tour, President Mahama had threatened to demolish houses in waterways and other unauthorized locations during Monday’s Eid prayers.
Source: newsthemegh.com