Rains expose filth along Korle drains; But dredging on course

The Drains and Maintenance Unit Director of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Graham Sarbah, has called for the construction of retention basins to manage storm water that causes flooding in some parts of the metropolis.

According to him, Accra, unlike other regions and districts, is a low-lying area and as such when it rains in other parts of the country, the rainwater is collected in the major storm drains.

He observed that the ongoing dredging exercise in the Odaw and Korle-Lagoon channels helped to reduce the impact of flood waters on the metropolis last weekend.

Mr Sarbah was speaking to journalists after a tour of some parts of the Odaw channel and the Korle Lagoon with the management of Dredge Masters Limited, a local company engaged in the dredging of the Odaw stream, to assess the impact of the downpour at the weekend on the dredging works in the area.

At the time of the visit, it was observed that an earlier dredging and clearing work that was done on the two major drains had helped to reduce the floods in the area.

However, tonnes of plastics and other solid waste materials were exposed on the surface of the Korle-Lagoon.

Ready for the rains 

Answering on whether the major drains in Accra were ready to receive and contain rainwater as the rains set in, Mr Sarbah said since the beginning of the year, the assembly had been engaging in clearing the drains to manage such situations.

“We have worked on the Mampong drain, the Shukura drain and the Kaneshie drain. We have worked on the South Kaneshie drain that passes behind ICGC into the Korle Lagoon. We have dredged the Achimota-Apenkwa drain too and upstream we have done some other clearing works around Sowutum, in preparation for the rains ahead,” he said.

Mr Sarbah, however, said the flooding situation in the country could only be controlled, if residents desisted from throwing waste into open drains.

Continuous dredging 

The Project Director of Dredge Masters Limited, Mr Ahmed Khan, said about 80 per cent of the Odaw and Korle storm channels had been cleared to contain rainwater.

At the moment, he said four watermasters, a mobile amphibious multi-purpose dredger for dredging; piling, raking and some excavators were being used to clear the major drains.

He said in the coming weeks, two more dredging machines and four excavators would be launched on the site to speed up the dredging and clearing works in the area.

The Presiding Member of the AMA, Mr Thomas Mustapha Ashong, lauded the efforts of the government and Dredge Masters in clearing the two major storm drains which had contributed to reducing the level of floods in the metropolis. 

“From the assembly’s point of view, we believe that it should not wait for the rainy season before such initiatives are carried out, but it should be a continuous dredging process rather than on seasonal basis,” he said.

Implement sanitation bye-laws

The Communications Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mr Robert Coleman, said the company would continue to sensitise the public to the need to keep their environment clean and to avoid the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into open drains.

He also called on the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to implement the various sanitation bye-laws and prosecute such offenders in order to serve as a deterrent to others.