The Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Francis Asenso-Boakye has urged Ghanaians to support the government’s efforts to mitigate the incidence of flooding in the country.
He said the government’s efforts will be meaningless if the citizenry continues to dispose of solid waste into drains and build structures on waterways.
“We have desilted about 1000km of drains across the country, but all these will go waste if we, as citizens are not responsible”, he stated.
The Minister made these statements during a tour of some parts of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, following the incidence of flooding that occasioned a heavy downpour in the metropolis.
According to Hon. Asenso-Boakye, an analysis conducted by the Hydrological Services Department’s team revealed that some of the drains are choked with solid waste, deposited by the people in the neighbourhood.
He, therefore, urged the public to complement the government’s efforts by haulting the practice of disposing of solid waste into drains and building on waterways to give value for money as far as the investments in desilting, dredging and drainage works in the country are a concern.
The Hon. Minister revealed that about 300 structures in Kumasi are built on waterways that he said, are blocking the free flow of liquid waste.
He charged the city authorities to take steps to demolish the structures to improve the drainage systems.