Floods devaste Accra again

Yesterday morning’s rainfall caused havoc in most parts of Accra, especially to businesses and homes around the Odaw River.
The rain started early Tuesday dawn and lasted for hours, resulting in the flooding of most parts of the Capital. A joint team of military and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) after a rescue mission confirmed one person dead at Odawna.
Dredging of the Odaw River, which has become a receptacle for a chunk of Accra’s waste, has been trumpeted as the panacea to prevent the recurrent flooding in the capital.
The Odaw river takes its tributary from streams at the Akuapem ridge through Abokobi and Adjankote hills, through Ashongman, the Atomic Energy area, West Legon, Achimota, Alajo, Avenor, Adabraka, Agbogbloshie and finally to the Korle Lagoon, and into the Atlantic Ocean.
As at 09:00am that The Chronicle visited some of these areas, especially at the Attah Mills High Street (Accra Beach road), the flood had caused damage to one of the dredging machines along the Korle Lagoon, by dragging it under a bridge.
However, at about 11:00am when this reporter was leaving the area, the efforts of workers of Dredge Masters Ghana Limit to save the heavy equipment from being washed into the sea had proven futile.
Areas like Agbogbloshie and its environs in the early hours of yesterday could not easily be accessed through the Graphic road or the Abossey Okai road (Onion market), as the Odaw river had overrun its banks onto the roads.
At Adabraka, the devastating effect of the morning downpour saw residents, squatters, traders, fitting shop and garage owners stranded and counting their losses.
The situation was not different at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange (Circle), as traders and shop owners had their wares destroyed by the flood waters.
According to some of them interviewed by this reporter, flooding in the area has become an annual ritual that traders have to contend with, but sadly they are always on the losing side against nature.
One shop attendant by name Kwame, told this reporter that the last time they experienced such magnitude of destruction was on June 3, 2015.
He said the items on the lower shelves in the shop, such as rice, sugar, gari, soap and other perishable goods were all destroyed, adding that he cannot quantify the amount but believes it runs into thousands of cedis.
Kwame wondered how he was going to meet his financial obligations, since some of the goods are given to them on credit, while they also secure loans to run the entire business.
Another shop owner who did not want the name mentioned added that he cannot come to terms with how one would rent a shop at an amount of GH¢25,000 and would be confronted with periodic floods, destroying his or her goods.
Some Residents at Alajo equally told the paper that without any warning, the rains set in and the Odaw River over flooded its banks causing havoc in their homes.
Some residents said the water level rose to their waist, making it impossible to move their belongings to safety, since it was dark.
One view strongly held by traders, shop owners and residents was that the government must constantly dredge the Odaw river and the Korle Lagoon to avert future tragedy.
Zanetor Rawlings, Member of Parliament (MP) for Klottey-Korley Constituency, during a visit to the area to console her constituents, blamed the situation on government’s failure to de-silt the drains.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo had earlier warned citizens that he was no longer going to waste taxpayers’ money to tackle the floods and that the citizens must be responsible with how they treat their environment.
According to him, the only solution left to tackle the annual flooding problem in the country is attitudinal change.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) spends GH¢1.5 million to clear clogged drains in the capital city, as part of measures to mitigate flooding during the rainy season, however, its effort is thwarted by continuous littering and indiscriminately disposing of waste by the public.

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