Weija flood is a blot

Last week, hundreds of houses around the Weija Dam got flooded, leaving many residents displaced and in despondency.

The flooding, which was as a result of the opening of some spill gates of the dam by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), led to the destruction of properties running into millions of Ghana cedis.

What made the spilling of the water so disastrous was that unlike previous spillages that were preceded by announcements for residents to prepare themselves for the situation, this year’s spillage was done without any advance notice.

It was a disheartening spectacle as the vulnerable, such as children, people with disabilities, the aged and pregnant women were ferried across the flood waters with hopelessness written on their faces; many not knowing where they were going to.

Many of the victims were seen along the roadside after they had managed to move out of the disaster area, with little hope of getting places to shelter in the days ahead.

In one instance, children as young as five years and below slept on the rooftop of an uncompleted storey building, the only shelter for them at the time. Fortunately, nature showed mercy and the rains did not fall that night — a situation that would have been more disastrous for those young ones.

According to many of the affected residents, until last week their places had not seen any floods for the many years they had stayed there, so they were caught off guard by the disaster.

The Daily Graphic sympathises with the victims, even as they count their losses.

Meanwhile, we wonder why the spillage could not be announced prior to the exercise for residents to have prepared for it. It beats us how the GWCL could not anticipate that the dam would be full until it became imminent that it could break its banks.

One question to ask is: Why were the spill gates not opened for the water to spill gradually to avoid the disaster that befell such a huge portion of the population?

Unfortunately, one life was lost to the floods, something that could have been avoided.

We think demanding an investigation into why the water was not spilled gradually won’t be asking for too much, especially when there are allegations by some residents that the GWCL, specifically the Weija Water Works, failed to heed the advice of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to start opening the spill gates in bits to allow for the free flow of water from the Eastern Region.

Another issue that needs investigation is the claim that the floods assumed such a proportion because the GWCL failed to dredge the estuary, for which reason the spilled water did not have any avenue to drain off. This must be taken seriously because reports have it that it was at the peak of the floods that the estuary was dredged for the water to immediately begin to recede.

If these allegations are established to be true, then stringent measures must be taken to avoid a recurrence in the future.

Again, the Ga South Municipal Assembly, under whose jurisdiction Weija and the other areas that were flooded fall, must be faulted for looking on as people built on water courses. Officials of the assembly have slept on their duty for a few recalcitrant citizens to create problems for many people.

We must not wait any further to demolish structures that are within the buffer of the dam to allow for the free flow of water the next time the dam is spilled, and in this wise we advise owners of buildings that are sited on the water course to relocate immediately for their own safety.

It is a relief that the flood waters have receded appreciably. But we must point out that as a country, we should strengthen our social safety nets and welfare systems to be able to cater effectively for people who become affected by such disasters.

One area where the recent floods has exposed us as a country is the ill-preparedness of NADMO. The response of the organisation through to the provision of relief items was ample proof that we are not really prepared when disaster strikes.

Let’s prioritise and resource NADMO to be able to carry out its mandate of keeping society safe, for a solid base of knowledge about disaster management without the requisite resources to perform is just a waste of intellect.