Residents in Kaneshie, Greater Accra Region, have asked the government to destroy houses built on waterways in the town.
Residents blamed the floods on the Takoradi transport station, which they claim is situated on a waterway, in an interview with Citinews following Saturday’s downpour.
“We couldn’t sleep. It was terrible. When it started raining, we thought it would be a light one but later, we found ourselves swimming in the water. I had to swim with my children. The water was close to my neck. Since they put up this Takoradi station, it has blocked the road,” a resident said.
Flooding in the village has intensified over the year, according to an electrician whose belongings were ruined by the flood. As a result, he begged with the government to demolish the inconvenient structures that were causing the menace.
Because of the intensity of Saturday’s floods, a pump equipment was rented to remove the water from the flooded dwellings.
An elderly man was shattered and in tears due to the awful scenario. According to the unidentified man, he has been dealing with this issue for more than a decade and has lost several of his belonging.
“I’m disturbed. We have been facing this problem for so many years. For more than 10 years now, we have been suffering. Anytime we buy things, they get spoilt. My television, microwave are spoilt.”
According to the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Ghana saw 1,446 flood incidents between 2015 and 2020, resulting in 309 injuries and 510 deaths.
During the same time period, 54,744 dwellings were impacted, and 136,563 acres of agriculture were devastated.
A state-sanctioned audit conducted into flood control drains across the country by the Auditor-General has estimated that more than GH¢117 million had been spent by the Works and Housing Ministry between 2015 and 2019 to construct and maintain drains.
Despite this, many of the drains do not meet the required standards due to what it described as ‘poor monitoring of projects’.
