Oko Vanderpuije, former Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, has said the responsibility of tackling the problem of flooding does not fall under the purview of the current Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah.
Accra usually gets flooded after a few hours of rain.
Many have criticised the Mayor for failing to devise pragmatic measures to ensure that the capital has a good drainage system.
Mr. Vanderpuijie on The Point of View on Citi TV, however, said such criticisms are unfounded.
“Right now who is doing the routine maintenance that covers all these newly created assemblies? You need the routine maintenance in order to take care of the challenges around flooding and you cannot hold the Accra Mayor responsible for that. No, it is not under his jurisdiction,” he said.
US$523 million needed to tackle flooding
The Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea last year said that an estimated US$523 million is needed to permanently deal with the perennial flooding in Accra and other parts of the country.
“We need a sum of 523 million dollars to further tackle the flooding problem…Cabinet will soon consider the financial engineering necessary in dealing with this long-standing problem which has been rocking the nation since Nkrumah’s days,” he said.
Most places in the country get flooded at the least downpour.
Proffering solutions to these challenges, Mr. Atta Akyea said the nation deserves “subterranean drains which are environment-friendly but capital intensive which will eliminate the yearly ritual of desilting when it rains.”
Need for subterranean drains
Mr. Atta Akyeah has suggested the construction of subterranean drains, which in his view will provide a lasting solution to flooding in Ghana.
About US$10 billion will be needed to construct these subterranean drains.
The Minister also said it will take $523 million to permanently deal with flooding in Ghana.
Government has so far invested a sum of GH₵200 million for drainage purposes under the 2018 flood control program.
