The Kumasi Mayor has hinted of plans to present a petition to the Kumasi Traditional Council for the demolishing of structures built on waterways.
The Kumasi Mayor, Osei Assibey Antwi, giving an overview of the Metropolis at a town hall meeting at Tafo Sub Metro, said the Metropolitan Assembly will present the petition on Thursday.
This decision comes on the back of series of floods recorded in the Metropolis in the past few weeks.
Osei Assibey Antwi lamented that “now whenever it rains, the whole place gets flooded. It was not like that from the beginning, when I first saw Kumasi waterways were not blocked, but now, we the elites have built structures in waterways, this is what has brought the calamity. But you cannot cheat nature, you cannot divert a waterway and expect it to obey you. Last time when it rained, it took the intervention of Fire Service Personnel to rescue some people, it is very awful.”
He added that, “now, it has come to a point where we must take action, and so all structures that have been built in waterways have been earmarked for demolishing. I will come to the Kumasi Traditional Council on Thursday to plead with you (Nananom) that those structures will be demolished, so that petition from people whose structures are built on waterways will be rejected for the betterment of Kumasi.”
About 400 households were reported to have been affected by floods following heavy rains in September.
According to the Kumasi Mayor, major bridges and gutters have been de-silted to prevent any further recurrence of floods.
“We have been able to de-silt major rivers in the Metropolis, the river at Dichemso has been de-silted, Adoato, Adumanu, Mohyie Zongo, Abinkyi and many other areas.”
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By : Loretta Timah/citifmonline.com