Odaw, Korle Lagoon dredged ahead of floods

The Odaw River and Korle Lagoon have been well dredged in anticipation of the rains which invariably flood major parts of the capital, Accra.

The exercise which took place on June 31, 2021, formed part of measures by the government to contain the heavy rainfall and associated challenges which often claim lives and properties.

Addressing journalists at the Korle Lagoon and Odaw River on Thursday June 31, 2021, Operations Manager for Dredge Masters, Sena Kofi Adiepena, revealed that the company has achieved its target of successfully dredging the Korle-Lagoon to its design levels, to avoid flooding in the capital.

“So far, we’ve been able to achieve our target as far as dredging of the Odaw and Korle-Lagoon are concerned. You can recollect that it rained heavily recently but our scope didn’t see flooding. We have ensured that we don’t experience any flooding along the stretch and we are hopeful that there would be no flood again unless the rains exceed the capacity of the drainage system,” Kofi Adiepena stressed.

He however indicated that the exercise had been fraught with some challenges, including encroachment at the banks of the Korle-Lagoon, and disposal of waste into Lagoon by the encroachers.

He therefore assured that his outfit “was still focused on delivering our mandate of ensuring a good drainage system to control the floods.”

Meanwhile, at Caprice near the circle area which usually has a chocked drain, dredging machines were being used to pushing out and collecting the silt from the drain.

So far, the dredging campaign has over the years has somewhat resulted in an improved sanitary and drainage conditions of the Odaw river and Korle Lagoons and by extension parts of the capital Accra.

The June 3rd disaster still remains one of the worst experienced in Ghana when a heavy downpour was worsened by an explosion at a GOIL fuel station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle which led to the death of 150 persons and many others suffering various degrees of injuries.