Residents In Abokobi, Ashongman And Its Environs Stranded After Hours Of Rain
Drivers and residents in Abokobi, Ashongman and other areas in the capital have been left stranded following hours of rain.
Rains that started at about 4:40 am on Friday clogged the major roads in the area, badly affecting commuters who were mostly heading to work and school.
Residents in some households could be seen with buckets trying to scoop the water that had entered their compounds.
The heavy rains also destroyed several shops as traders counted their losses after the floods subsided.
A popular waakye joint in the area, which on a regular day had long queues, now had a basin with the waakye relegated to the background.
The drivers of both commercial and private vehicles had parked in the middle of the road, chatting casually.
A man in his late 40s driving past a private vehicle said in the local Twi dialect, “go and sleep”, indicating that no car could cross to the other side.
Kwame Asiedu, a father of one, expressed his disappointment to The Ghana Report.
“We’re in March, right? We just celebrated independence, didn’t we? So, what are our leaders doing? Is it the first rain in this country?” he quizzed.
Another commercial driver asked, “So do we have a Member of Parliament at all?”
Before Friday’s rains, the Ghana Meteorological Agency warned that “A rain-bearing cloud has engulfed southeastern Ghana”.
This, according to the agency, is producing rain of varying intensity within the Volta Region.
It added that areas within the Greater Accra and Eastern regions would be affected before drifting to Central, Western, and parts of the Ashanti.
Many lives have been lost and properties destroyed due to the annual floods.
Many Ghanaians are apprehensive about the annual ritual of the capital city getting flooded.
Efforts by the city authorities to check the situation continue to be undermined by recalcitrant residents and the weak enforcement of bye-laws.
The government has attempted to address this problem by dredging rivers and gutters before rainy seasons, but this appears to be ineffective.
In May 2019, President Nana Akufo-Addo inspected two major projects handed out in 2016 to Dredge Masters Limited for the desilting and dredging of the Odaw channel and restoration of the Korle Lagoon to avert the perennial flooding in Accra.
The two projects the president inspected were the Accra Sanitary Sewer and Storm Water Drainage Alleviation Project at Circle and the Drainage Construction at Kaneshie 1st Light Intersection.
Below is a video to that effect
What else do you expect when people dump building sand and stones on our streets, blocking gutters and drains with impunity in their insatiable hunger to erect appartments everywhere. Think about it; when it rains, building sand heaped irresponsibly by private developers on our streets, wash away gradually eventually blocking gutters, drains and rather turning our streets into rivers. Most of this eroded sand finally go to pile up in the Odaw river, calling for expensive dredging. A vicious cycle indeed! In pursuance of estate development objectives, developers also indiscriminately cut down trees with impunity. This also bring on board many climate and environmental issues. The situation is out of control.
With repect the irresponsible dumping of building sand and stones on our streets, I suggest that government enact a law, allowing the Municipal Authority to introduce some preventive measures to curb this antisocial practice.
First of all, dumping of building material on the street must attract an initial statutory fine. A daily rental fee of street space should be calculated from the date of issuance of a “Notice of Removal” by the Municipal Authority. And finally, when the grace period (deadline) for the removal of the building material is expired, the Municipal Authority should have the right to confiscate the said building materials to pursue other public developmental projects like schools, markets, toilets, libraries, gutters etc. in the Municipality.
That was my suggestion above (anonymous)