Govt. allots GhȻ 197m to desilt choked drains- Sanitation Minister

Government has allotted Ghc 197 million for the desilting choked drains and other drainage works in the country, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources has said.  

Addressing the press in a joint interaction between her Ministry and the Greater Accra Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Projects, Cecelia Dapaah said the contract for the works has already been awarded by the Ministry of Works and Housing, Maxwell Agbagba reported.

“We just had a meeting last Friday they are going to desilt our gutters,” she recounted to reporters.

She added that authorities will not hesitate to deal with persons who are caught disposing waste indiscriminately at unauthorised places once the desilting is done.

“It looks like we are having early rains and the country must be prepared for the force majeure. We must be grateful to God for rains, unfortunately, rains can also cause havoc,” she noted.

Corroborating the Minister’s briefing, the Project Coordinator of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Water and Sanitation Projects, George Asiedu, stated that the desilting of 22 major drains in Accra will commence next week ahead of the expected rainy season in June/July.

“The 22 drains involve doing desilting and dredging. The purpose is to improve flow, once we remove these solid wastes which normally obstruct flow, we are hoping that with the onset of the rains, the flow will be improved and then flooding will be reduced to the barest minimum,” Asiedu told his audience.

Accra deaths

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) confirmed on Monday that at least three people had died and two missing as a result of Sunday evening’s rains.

Many places in the capital, including the newly constructed Circle Interchange, had flooded.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Zanetor Rawlings from the Klottey Korle Constituency which saw its fair share of the floods, blamed the government.

According to her, the drain has not been cleared since the NDC was ousted in 2016.

However, Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea has lamented the recent loss of lives due to floods, an offspring of choked drains.

He is hopeful that with the contractors being asked to move to site, excessive flooding may be curbed, especially in the capital –where the menace is rife.

Atta Akyea said on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM Friday, that works have delayed on clearing the affected drains due to difficulties in raising funds.

“The monies we applied for January 2018 came in the last quarter of the year,” the Minister told host Daniel Dadzie.

Source: Myjoyonline