Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings
As part of her vision to end the perennial floods in her constituency, the Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings together with the Minister for Works and Housing, Asenso Boakye toured some of the flood-prone areas at Odawna and its environs in Accra.
The aim was to assess the effects of floods and how to mitigate them before the rains set in.
Dr. Zanetor and the minister had a meeting with the leadership of the Odawna Garages Association on how best to prevent the loss of lives and property during rains.
Prior to the tour, the Klottey Korle lawmaker had a meeting with the sector minister on steps being taken to mitigate the effects of the rains.
After the tour, the Minister of Works and Housing assured that construction will begin in December on a new project to end the perennial flooding of the Odaw River Basin.
According to him, the government is in the process of recruiting consultants and contractors to execute the project which would be funded by a $200million World Bank loan facility.
The floods, Hon Asenso said are caused by structural issues which would be solved by the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project.
“A big part of the problem here (Odawna) is structural and it requires some huge construction and re-engineering which I have indicated to you that government has secured funding for that project called the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project which seeks to address the flood issues associated with the Odaw River Basin.”
“So, that one is ongoing, currently we are in the process of hiring consultants and contractors and per the plan, by December towards early next year construction will start,” the Minister revealed.
Mr. Asenso explained that the project would help to improve access to flood risk management, solid waste management, basic infrastructure and services in the targeted communities within the Odaw River Basin.
In the interim, he said the government will dredge the Odaw river ahead of the rainy season.
Dr. Zanetor commended the Minister for committing to dredge the Odaw.
“At this point, the timeliness of the intervention is important because if the main structural intervention is next year, then we need an early intervention with regards to the dredging before the rains begin and I am glad the Minister indicated that will be done urgently because there are 2,000 people that work at the Odawna Garages and their livelihoods are affected every time it rains,” she said.
While expressing gratitude to the Minister for visiting the area for first-hand information, Dr Zanetor called on Ghanaians and waste disposal companies to desist from dumping waste in the drains.