Urgent, people-led approach required to tackle flooding — Asenso-Boakye
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has called for a national, people-led approach to tackle the growing menace of urban flooding across the country.
He insisted that while adequate laws existed to check some of the factors that enhance flooding, nothing would change if people continued to build on watercourses and dumped refuse into drainage systems.
Contributing to a statement in Parliament by the Adentan MP, Mohammed Adamu Ramadan, on the recent floods in his constituency, Mr Asenso-Boakye stressed that flooding was not a localised issue but a national challenge demanding urgent and sustained action.
Complex challenges
Referencing his personal experience as someone who grew up in Bantama — an urban community — and now representing the same area in Parliament, he said he was aware of the complex challenges that flooding posed to urban settlements.
While acknowledging the efforts of successive governments to address the issue, he highlighted the unprecedented investments made by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration in flood control infrastructure across the country.
“Yet, no matter how much government invests, if we continue to build on watercourses and dump solid waste into our drainage systems, we will continue to suffer the consequences,” he said.
Accountability
Mr Asenso-Boakye pointed out that Ghana already had adequate laws to prevent such occurrences, but stressed that the real gap was about enforcement.
“We must hold our metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies accountable.
They are the primary authorities mandated by the Local Governance Act to enforce planning and sanitation regulations,” he said.
Crucially, he called for a groundswell of community-led action to combat flooding, urging citizens to take responsibility.
“We must rise against those who build on watercourses and those who turn our drains into dumping grounds.
There is power in community action; sometimes even stronger than the power of government,” he emphasised.
