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President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, has instructed contractors working on the desilting of the Odaw drain to expedite their work ahead of the rainy season to mitigate flooding in Accra.
The Odaw River is one of the major receptacles for Accra’s drains, and collects water from major storm drains into the sea through the Korle Lagoon. Desilting of the River is believed to reduce the threat of flooding during the rainy season.
The President expressed frustration over the delays while stressing the urgency of completing these flood mitigation projects on time. He stated that he had expected contractors to take advantage of the dry season to accelerate progress on the project; however, that expectation has not been met.
“These GARID Projects for desilting the major drains were given since last year, and it is clear that all of them are behind schedule. From what I have seen, these drains are not going to be ready before the rains open up, and if they aren’t, it means that we must expect that there will be severe flooding this season.”
“I would have thought that the contractors would take advantage of the dry season and work as quickly as possible so that we would have been ahead with these projects by now, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened,” he said.
President John Mahama warned residents of Accra of impending flooding due to the delay of the project and urged authorities to intensify efforts to mitigate damage. He also tasked the GARID Secretariat, the hydrology section, and the relevant ministries to oversee and fast-track all flood prevention projects
“We just have to caution citizens of Accra. There’s going to be severe flooding because of the delay in these projects, but we have to do everything to alleviate the destruction of property and loss of life as much as possible.”
“I’ve charged the Garret Secretariat and the hydrology section and the ministry to pay constant attention to make sure that all the projects that have been awarded under Garret to make Accra resilient from flooding are speeded up as quickly as possible, so that we can minimize the flooding.” He stated.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.net
