Construction of the Nima-Paloma storm drain, which runs through Asylum Down to the Odaw Channel has commenced with a sod-cutting ceremony by the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah,
The 1km storm drain, which is under the Greater Accra Resilience and Integrated Development (GARID) Project is part of measures by the government to strengthen the flood resilience of communities along the Odaw River basin.
At the ceremony, the Minister commended GARID for the progress made despite delays, attributing it to compensation packages for affected residents.
He explained that compensation had to be settled before contractors could commence work, and cited challenges with the design review processes as additional reasons for the project delays.
Oppong Nkrumah also disclosed that the government’s newly launched Flood Early Warning System would be ready ahead of the next rainy season.
“While structural interventions alone cannot completely eradicate the flooding challenges in Accra, the Ministry of Works and Housing, in collaboration with the Ghana Hydro Authority, Water Resources Commission, Ghana Meteorological Agency, and NADMO through the GARID Project, is establishing a flood early warning system for the Greater Accra Region. The early warning system will provide advanced notification of impending floods to residents in flood-prone communities so they can take steps to protect lives and properties ahead of a flooding event”, he said.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Titus Nii Glover, who was present at the ceremony cautioned residents along the Odaw River basin, particularly around the Nima-Paloma drain, to desist from acts of open defecation and dumping solid waste into the drain adding that strict measures are being put in place by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council to apprehend all persons involved in such acts.