Flooding in Accra has become quite the common occurrence after rains so some young men have decided to simply take advantage of that which brings misfortune and inconvenience to the average Ghanaian by offering to carry willing persons for a fee across the mild flood waters.
Today [Sunday] saw some heavy rain in parts of the region’s capital, especially Kaneshie, which initial had people wading in run-off flood waters almost knee high.
When Citi News visited the Kaneshie market after the rains had subsided, there was an air normalcy as the flooding did not escalate into the dangerously high levels capital has witnessed in times past.
The bus stop by the market, just in front of Kaneshie foot bridge, was however still flooded and that is where some of our young men were making hay after the downpour.
They offered back rides to patrons wishing to cross to the market without soaking their shoes and clothing in the murky run-off waters.
Their charge was GHc 1 which could rise to GHc 5 depending on the intensity of the flooding.
Some people could be seen taking advantage of the service so as to keep from getting seriously wet and ruining their clothes and shoes.
Others decided to save their GHc 1 and waded through the water themselves.
Some of these boys, who shadow troskis for money on regular days, said they could make as much as GHc 40 to GHc 100 on a “normal day” of flooding.
“When flooding comes, we make happy… when the flood water comes like this, it is good for us,” one of them said to Citi News.
Today [Sunday] was however a slow day, as one of the boys put it, owing to the fact it was a weekend and the market was not the scene of the usual hustle and bustle that characterised weekdays.
They however retained some awareness of the adverse state of affairs that made them regard the flooding as a business opportunity.
According to them, the day the flooding situation is addressed, “it will be sweet for us.”
“The market people, I don’t know if they have been complaining or they have not been complaining but this place [the bus stop] we have been complaining… we are making money but doing this thing is not sweet for us,” he noted.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana