The Minister of Works and Housing designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has reiterated the government’s commitment to work on flood adaptation projects in flood-prone areas in Accra to mitigate the impact of this year’s rainfall season.
The projects include the construction of storm drains at Agbogbloshie, Akweteyman, a section of Nima, Kasoa Iron City and Weija Old Barrier.
All these projects are part of the Ministry’s National Flood Control Programme, initiated by implementing agencies to mitigate against perennial flooding, especially in flood-prone areas of the country.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, disclosed this when he embarked on an inspection tour of the areas to ascertain the level of completion of some of the projects.
The minister and a team from the Ghana Hydrological Authority visited the Odaw River, as well as the ongoing projects at Agbogbloshie, Kasoa Iron City and Weija Old Barrier.
He said under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project, work was set to begin for the construction of two major storm drains from Paloma to Circle and from Accra Academy Senior High School to the Odaw River.
A dredging company, Dredge Masters, had also been contracted by the government to desilt the Odaw River to minimize any dangers of possible flooding.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah expressed excitement with the progress of work while urging the contractors to increase the speed to ensure that they were completed before the rainy season commenced.
For the ones that could not be completed before the season began, he urged the contractors to find other innovative means to remove or reduce any flood risks in the area.
Currently, he said, there is a challenge in Parliament on the approval of a $150 million World Bank facility loan to fund the GARID Project. He, however, assured the contractors that the ministry was going to try every possible means to ensure that they were paid on time.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also urged the contractors to make sure that all the project-affected persons received the relevant compensation and were duly engaged to understand the importance of the project.