Intensify public education on how to avoid flood areas — NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the government to intensify public education on how the citizenry can avoid flood areas and adopt other safety measures during the rainy season.

According to the party, though it was too late in the day for significant measures to be put in place to salvage the situation, it suggested the need for mass education to manage the flood cases.

The party also called on the government to put in place emergency relief and disaster management measures to minimise the impact of the disaster that awaited the citizenry.

In a statement issued and signed by the party’s National Communication Officer, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC said it was unacceptable and sad for people to lose their properties and lives as a result of flooding.

It described as unacceptable the cases of flooding recorded in some parts of the country and called on the government to “wake up” to its responsibility as the raining season approached.

The party said it was shocked that many parts of Accra experienced flood waters as a result of the 45-minutes light rainfall recorded last Wednesday, and wondered what would befall the nation in the event of heavy torrential rains, which usually begins in June.

“Clearly, a major flood disaster is looming large upon us, and the impact may be very catastrophic for the people of Accra if urgent action is not taken," the statement said.

Blame

The party blamed the government for the situation, saying the State had not done much to address the issue.

"The failure of the Akufo-Addo government to desilt the Odaw River, the Korle Lagoon and the several primary and secondary drains in Accra during the dry season is the major reason for the current looming disaster,” the statement added.

The NDC statement observed that the nation could have minimised the incidence and impact of this year’s floods if the government had been proactive and continued the desilting works and projects commenced by the erstwhile Mahama administration, which were intended to significantly deal with perennial floods in Accra.

"The Mahama government consistently undertook annual de-silting of the Odaw and Korle in order to minimise the rate and mitigate the effect of flooding in Accra. Unfortunately, the Akufo-Addo-led government hasn’t shown much commitment to this programme in the last two years," it stated.

The statement further stated that even though Accra was able to ride the flood storm in 2017 and 2018 due to previous works done by the Mahama government, the current administration’s slow nature to addressing the issue had led to flooding anytime it rained.

NDC suggestions

The party said it was shocked that despite all the resources committed to addressing the flooding issue, no meaningful result had been achieved.