The President Has Said It Well, But?

President Mills has cautioned that government would not hesitate to demolish structures that are situated on waterways in every part of the country.

His statement follows the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Alfred Vanderpuije’s position that the demolishing exercise that took place around some areas like Osu and Sakaman earlier this year prevented those areas from flooding.

On Tuesday, The AMA Boss said that more lives would have been lost had they not done that job.

A lot of lives are lost every year just because people continue to build on water ways, and also because of inadequate drainage facilities in most communities, and even in places where they exist people keep dumping refuse and other solid waste in them; this makes it difficult for water to flow to where it is supposed to when it rain.

There is a big argument surrounding the flooding issue. Every year when the rains come, parts of the country always get flooded.

Some parts of Abose Okai, Kaneshie and other part of Accra got flooded in 2009 as a result of choked gutters and poor drainage system in the area.

Ghana has been facing the issue of poor drainage for a very long time.

There are areas in Accra that do not have drains and as a result, these areas flood anytime the rains come.

As the issue of demolishing of structures, which have been built on water ways is being tackled, the districts, municipal and metropolitan assemblies and the government in collaborating with the Ministry of Roads and Transport should also try to identify ways of planning the drainage systems in the country and how to distil choked gutters in the country.

It is about time that horrible attitude of dumping refuse in the gutters by residents be stopped.
The masses also should be educated on the dangers involved in dumping them in the drain and how to properly dispose refuse in order to save us all and our properties.
Bismarck Nii Ogbamey Tetteh