The Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, says although the government is making frantic efforts to end perennial flooding, financing has been a major setback.
Some parts of Accra were flooded following hours of rains over the weekend.
Persons in some hard-hit areas called on government to construct proper drains and put in place adequate measures to curb flooding.
Speaking to Citi News, the Minister explained that the underground drains system which is the most effective way of preventing flood is very expensive.
“Open drains are not good for Ghana. We need subterranean ones. We are virtually on our knees begging individuals not to put their waste materials into open drains. We need a bigger financial space to affect the whole country and even Accra.”
He said the amount of money needed to fix the challenges is not “a few cedis, it is a lot of money and bear in mind that this nation is coming out from the doldrums with an inherited liability of GHS33 billion and the debt of the previous government and the money to solve the mess”.
We need $523 million to tackle perennial flooding – Atta Akyea
In 2019, the Minister said an estimated 523 million dollars is needed to permanently deal with the perennial flooding in Accra and other parts of the country.
To achieve this, the cabinet is set to consider a financial engineering mechanism.
The Works and Housing Minister said this in Parliament while responding to questions on the government’s plan to deal with the perennial flooding problem in Ghana.
“We need a sum of 523 million dollars to further tackle the flooding problem… Cabinet will soon consider the financial engineering necessary in dealing with this long-standing problem which has been rocking the nation since Nkrumah’s days,” the Minister said.
Proffering solutions to these challenges, Mr. Atta Akyea said the nation is deserving of “subterranean drains which are environment-friendly but capital intensive which will eliminate the “yearly ritual of desilting when it rains”
The post Inadequate funds hindering perennial flooding fight – Atta Akyea appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana.
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