‘Never again’, but where is the action?

Saturday marked the second commemoration of the flood and fire disaster that claimed more than 120 lives at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra.

The sad incident was the result of persistent rainfall in Accra and its environs, leading to flooding, as gutters and storm drains were choked.

Apart from the widespread injuries and narrow escapes from yawning fatal situations, the inconvenience to motorists and the loss of lives in some suburbs of the capital, the major disaster struck when a filling station at the Kwame Nkrumah interchange caught fire, which engulfed innocent people taking shelter or those trapped in their vehicles at the station.

At each commemoration of the event, speakers declare: ‘Never again will this happen!’

The questions lingering on our minds at the Daily Graphic are: what will be the fate of the city and the country should it rain continuously for 12 hours, as we saw on June 3, 2015? What concretely has been done to justify the ‘never again’ refrain?

Unfortunately, the Daily Graphic does not see the recommendations made after the investigations being implemented, neither is the action plan that followed the disaster being followed. The storm drains and the culverts are still choked, people are still dumping refuse indiscriminately, including into gutters, and people are pursuing the same old misconduct of building on watercourses.

As though these are not enough, filling stations are still being sited at places where their owners would not dare if our laws were working to the letter.  

We are worried that when such tragic disasters happen, everybody talks about them, with various analytical persuasions, making it appear as though colossal and unprecedented measures will be instituted to curb the incidents once and for all.

Committees are quickly set up to investigate and issue reports. In the end, on most occasions, the public does not even see the reports after their release. Then the euphoria with which the issues are talked about quickly dies down until another disaster of similar or larger proportion occurs.

The Daily Graphic does not want Ghanaians to be a people always doing post-mortem. We should be proactive in instituting preventive measures and following through remedial actions to forestall devastating incidents and their  consequences.  

Not too long ago, President Nana Akufo-Addo declared that he would make Accra the neatest city in Africa. The Daily Graphic will always associate itself with and laud the initiative, but we will equally not relent in asking for the road map and action plan.

It is our belief that the country requires effective leadership at every facet of national life. Leadership is about commanding followership and we think that once there is leadership, people will follow and do what is right.

As a people and individuals, we may be doing things detrimental to national development, but the Daily Graphic believes that the differentiator remains leadership.

We urge the leadership of the city, including those at the regional coordinating council, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the various sub-metros to take giant steps towards really making the city of Accra clean and flood resistant.

The task is arduous and capital laden but with the right leadership, it can be achieved.

The Daily Graphic continues to sound the caution for the authorities to stand up and demonstrate bold and effective leadership in order to prevent any such occurrence in the country in future. The time to act is now.