Minister for Works and Housing has charged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to enforce their bye-laws to prevent flooding in Greater Accra.
Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye pointed out that the district assemblies are empowered by the Local Government Act to ensure that, for instance, building permits are issued appropriately and not haphazardly.
“Haphazard development of our communities is another major cause of flooding in the capital city. Whenever you are supposed to build you have to go and request for a building permit from the district assembly, and most people don’t do that.
“It is the responsibility of the district assemblies to make sure they issue permits rightly and that whenever permits are not issued, the assemblies should be decisive to pull down any structure that flouts any of the bye-laws”, he urged.
Mr. As enso-Boakye made the call when his ministry, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), yesterday afternoon embarked on an assessment tour of areas in Accra that were hit by flood, following last Saturday night downpour.
The visit also enabled the minister and his team to see for themselves the impact of last Saturday’s heavy rain in especially flood-prone areas in Accra.
The areas visited included Odawna Garages in the Korle-Klottey Municipal Assembly, Iran Clinic at Adabraka near the Circle Overhead Bridge, Odawna, Circle, Adabraka and Asylum Down.
The rest were Circle Neoplan Station, Osudoku, Pharma Nova, Tintara all in Osu, and Tsaado in Teshie.
While admitting that the size of the drains was a contributory factor to floods in Accra, Mr. Asenso-Boakye said the government, over the last five years, invested GH¢450 million in the expansion of drainage works in the capital city.
These, he said, have included drain deepening, concrete lining and increasing of the capacity of the drains to be able to carry storm water to prevent floods.
He was, however, quick to add that there were other causes of flooding besides the size of the drains.
“The first one is the indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into the drains and the other one which is equally important is the haphazard development of our communities”, he pointed out.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye noted that in areas such as Odawna, which needed serious engineering works, the government has put in place remedial measures to mitigate the impact of floods.
