I owe Accra flood victims my support, not apology - Alfred Vanderpuye
The Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye, has said that he does not owe victims of the devastating June 3 Accra floods any apology.
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About 153 Ghanaians died in both the floods proper and a floods-induced inferno at a Goil Filling station in at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
The twin disaster triggered outrage among section of the public and prompted widespread calls for Mr Vanderpuye to resign over what some critics said was his incompetence.
One of Mr Vanderpuye’s fiercest critics was popular playwright, Uncle Ebow Whyte, who urged him to fix problems facing Accra instead of going about collecting undeserved awards.
But in an interview with the BBC Friday, Mr Vanderpuye defended his record as Mayor, stressing that he had never been negligent in his duty.
He said even before the floods, he made sure that the city’s drains and gutters were desilted to facilitate the free flowing of water.
When asked whether he owed victims of the flood an apology, Mr Vanderpuye said he did not, stressing that what happened was not his fault or the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
He said they had done their best based on the resources available to them to ensure the safety of Accra residents.
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Mr Vaderpuye, however, noted that he owed victims of the floods his support to ensure that the disaster does not recur.
“… I owe them support to ensure that these things do not happen, but I don’t owe anyone an apology. As Mayor I have always done my job. Every year I clean the channels of this city. Last year we did that, the year before we did it,” he said.
The Mayor went on to warn that if measures were not immediately taken to build bigger drains and widen existing ones, the flooding problem in Accra will remain.