Francis Asenso-Boakye, Works and Housing Minister
The Minister of Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, has called on Ghanaians to change their attitude waste management, and refrain from disposing of solid and liquid wastes in drainages meant to enhance flow of storm water.
This, the Minister observed, would go a long way to complement government’s interventions against the headache of perennial flooding that hits the capital and other parts of the country.
He made the call yesterday in Accra while speaking at the launch of a Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) campaign for the Greater Accra Resilience and Integrated Development Project (GARID).
The Minister stated that for the country to find a lasting solution to the menace of flooding, government’s efforts must be complemented by appropriate waste disposal behaviours on the part of people as well as commitment of various Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to enforce sanitation laws and strictly apply the necessary punitive measures without fear or favour.
The SBCC campaign forms part of a holistic approach by government, through the GARID project, to manage flood and solid waste in flood-prone informal settlements within the Odaw Basin.
Campaign awards
The campaign will eventually institute the ‘Cleanest Market and Lorry Park Award Scheme’, with the cleanest market and lorry terminal being awarded and a League Table publicised in the media.
He recounted the huge investments made by the Akufo-Addo administration, under the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programme, with financial commitment amounting to GHC450 million over the last four years.
These interventions, namely the construction, excavation, rechanneling and maintenance of storm drains, have resulted substantially in a reduction in the spate of perennial devastating floods across the country in recent years.
Despite the significant progress made under the GARID project, which is aimed at improving flood risk and solid waste management in Accra, Mr Boakye disclosed that government would further commence performance-based dredging activities on the Odaw Basin and its tributaries in June as part of continued efforts to address flooding challenges in Accra.
Poor attitude
The Works and Housing Minister, however, observed that the huge investments made by government are being undermined by the inappropriate behaviour of residents of some communities in Accra, particularly communities along the Odaw channel, who are engaged in building along the water ways and indiscriminately dumping solid waste which eventually enter the drains and cause flooding.
He expressed worry that the implementation of the GARID project’s interventions and other such flood mitigation measures would not succeed, if the inappropriate behaviours and underlying attitudes of people do not change.
“Let me reiterate that for flood mitigation to work in Accra and everywhere in this country, the people must change; the Assemblies must work; and the media must help,” the Minister pointed out.
GARID Project
The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project is a Government of Ghana project established to address the scourge of flooding in Odaw Basin of Greater Accra Region. It is also intended to improve drainage, solid waste management and provision of services and infrastructure in priority flood prone informal settlements within the basin.
It is being implemented in 17 Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies in Accra by the Ministries of Works and Housing, Sanitation and Water Resources and Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, with support from the Project Coordinating Unit.
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