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The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has disclosed that Ghana has been ranked highly among African countries most exposed to risks from multiple weather-related hazards.
In the past three decades, the country has experienced seven major floods – the devastating flood event in the Odaw Drainage Catchment on 3rd June 2015 led to an unfortunate loss of about 150 lives and about 50,000 people were directly affected to varying degrees.
Speaking in parliament today, the minister stated that, the World Bank estimated that $3.2 billion (4.45% of GDP) worth of economic assets are at risk of flooding in the Greater Accra Region alone and this figure is expected to quadruple by 2050 without urgent action.
Causes of Flooding
Mr. Asenso-Boakye stated that the causes of flooding in the country are multi-faceted – and they include inefficient drains, undersized culverts and uncontrolled development in flood plains, wetlands and waterways.[ads1]
Additionally, indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into drains by households contribute significantly to urban flooding – and across the country, the new developments and buildings springing up in waterways and flood plains are (buffer zones) blocking the flow of storm water and worsening the risk of flooding.
Kumasi Flooding
On the recent flooding in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region – Mr. Asenso-Boakye stressed that on 24 and 25 June 2021, several areas in Kumasi experienced severe and devastating flooding and this affected commercial areas such as the new Kejetia market, Central market, Asafo market and Bantama High Street – with shops and homes experienced flooding and goods worth millions of Ghana Cedis were destroyed.
He said similar reports have been received from Koforidua and Takoradi and indeed other parts of the country – and following his visit to the affected areas in Kumasi on Monday 28 June 2021, the increasing risk of flooding associated with climate change is clear and as a nation need to take bold steps to tackle this challenge holistically.
Government’s efforts
He stressed that as part of efforts to tackle the flooding issues in the country, President Akufo-Addo since taking office in January 2017 has invested about GH₵450 million in the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programme compared to the GH₵88 million invested by the previous government between 2011 and 2016.[ads3]
He said, ” this level of commitment to tackling the problem which has resulted in a reduction of flooding incidents in the past few years is unprecedented and commendable.”
The minister further divulged that the government is also collaborating with the World Bank to invest more than $200 million to address solid waste and flood risk challenges in the Odaw Drainage Basin.
He believes this project will also see the development and implementation of a Flood Early Warning System to enhance community safety and resilience.[ads4]
He concluded that, “while the government is making every effort to ensure flood risk is minimised, it is important to highlight that government alone cannot do this; it must be a shared responsibility. It is therefore incumbent on every citizen to complement the effort of government, take their own safety seriously and be more mindful of the manner in which solid waste is disposed of.”
“Additionally, individual homebuilders need to avoid paving all of their compounds and make room for storm water infiltration by introducing vegetation. I further wish to call on MMDAs to strictly enforce planning laws and Building Codes to prevent development in waterways, floodplains and wetlands. Where these are flouted, the MMDAs need to take decisive action to rectify the situation urgently in the interest of protecting the good people of Ghana”, he added…
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