A major operation to demolish illegal structures and dredge silted waterways has begun in Accra, as the Flood Mitigation Task Force moves to prevent a repeat of the devastating floods that recently hit the Greater Accra Region.
The exercise, which is being carried out in phases, started today at New England behind Airport Hills and Mayfair Garden Estates, and has since extended to the Tesa Dam in East Legon and Oyarifa. The team is led by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, Stan Xoese Dogbe, and the Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Adjei, with support from military engineers.
At the Tesa Dam, adjacent to Boundary Road in East Legon, the task force demolished unauthorised retaining walls and other structures built along the banks of the reservoir. Officials say encroachment had narrowed the natural waterway, while years of siltation and indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste by squatters had drastically reduced the dam's capacity to hold stormwater.
Before the demolition, the commanding officer of the 48 Engineer Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Osei Amponsah, addressed affected residents, explaining that the operation was necessary to restore the watercourse. Occupants were given time to remove their belongings before the heavy equipment moved in.
Immediately after the demolitions, dredging began to remove thick silt deposits from the dam, which serves as a critical retention basin for floodwaters along the Motorway and surrounding communities.
Speaking to journalists, the Coordinator of the Flood Mitigation Task Force, Brigadier General Forster Okae-Yeboah, said the problem was man-made.
"The channel has been narrowed because people have built in this area. Water cannot flow freely to the holding area downstream. Since the channel is blocked, water backs up and floods the communities," he explained.
He added that the exercise would not end with demolition. "We will clear the debris, dredge the area, and create a buffer zone where no one will be allowed to build again. The assemblies will also be tasked to monitor and act immediately if anyone attempts to encroach."
The Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, disclosed that the operation would be a continuous one, under direct orders from the President.
"The President has directed that this should be an ongoing exercise. After the demolitions, we will continue dredging throughout the year so that whenever it rains, the water will have enough space. We will not allow the kind of flooding we recently experienced to happen again," he stated.
The Tesa Dam operation follows similar exercises on Thursday at Oyarifa, where a developer had built an apartment block directly over a natural waterway, and around Mayfair Gardens, where a concrete-reinforced bridge constructed by residents was removed.
The task force says it will clear, desilt and restore all identified water channels in the current locations before moving to phase two, which will target Weija, Mallam and the Laboma area.
