Atta Akyea, who was in parliament to respond to questions on the country’s preparation against flooding ahead of the rainy season, said the government had begun desilting drains in some parts of Accra including Adabraka.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Rpyt3767olCtKbSqCsMyOoW6wuQxSiVs”]But Dr. Rawlings, whose constituency covers Adabraka and Odawna, told Citi News that contrary to the claims of the Minister, there is no desilting work ongoing in the area.

“He mentioned that desilting has begun, and he mentioned some of the areas including Odawna and Adabraka which I can confirm is not the case. The gutters have not been desilted and this is of great concern to the people living there. I was there just a week ago. The whole area, along the Odawna to the garages, with all the gutters including those in Adabraka and Osu need to be desilted,” she said.

Many parts of Ghana’s capital, Accra, gets flooded whenever it rains, resulting in the loss of properties and sometimes lives.

The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, in 2017 said the country needs some $700 million to permanently solve the problem.

While contributing to the debate on the 2018 budget in Parliament, he indicated that the government had put together a new road-map to provide permanent infrastructure solution to the perennial flooding in Accra.

He explained that because the capital expenditure for the provision of the drainage and sewage to fix the recurring floods are beyond the national budget, and so there is the need to seek external help to address the problem.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He explained that because the capital expenditure for the provision of the drainage and sewage to fix the recurring floods are beyond the national budget, there is the need to seek external help to address the problem.

Mr. Atta-Akyea made the revelation on the second day of debate on the 2018 budget statement in Parliament.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ckJlQzj8ZCXlvygPv0qBG2tNuK1u7Efa”]Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance on November 15, 2017, presented the government’s 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament.

The budget highlighted results from the government’s policy programmes over the past few months, and announced the government’s planned developmental programs for the next fiscal year.

Among the major programs to be rolled out by the government in 2018, are a proposed 13 percent reduction in electricity tariff for residential consumers, the establishment of nation-building corps and operationalization of the special prosecutors’ office.

Mr. Atta-Akyea also stated that, the perennial flooding situation in the capital over the years has become an embarrassment to the country.

He stated that a lot investors have shown interest by investing in the housing sector of the country.

He however noted that government was considering using the Pension Fund to build houses for workers, after which they would be given mortgage to pay for the houses.

Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzra, Ranking Member on Works and Housing in his contribution on the floor of Parliament, chastised the NPP government for reducing the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Works and Housing in the 2018 budget.

He said if the government wants the economy to grow and create jobs as they claim, then they must invest in infrastructure.

He cited for example that government in the 2018 budget has allocated GHȼ1.9 billion for government machinery, and only Ghȼ1.3 billion for infrastructure, and noted that government was not serious about creating jobs for the people.

Mr. Bedzra also stated that, most housing projects which were completed in 2017 were a result of the 2016 budget allocations under the NDC administration, and that the NPP government has not done any new projects.

He said most of the projects such as the sea defence wall along the country’s coast were initiated by NDC under the 2016 budget, is the only project that was carried out and nothing was added in the 2017 budget.

He said even in the 2018 budget, the government is still not adding any new project, but would only be completing what was started in 2016.

Mr. Bedzra also stated that, when it comes to educational infrastructure, the NPP government did not add anything to existing structures in the 2017 budget, but would only be completing the school infrastructure projects initiated by the President Mahama administration.

He therefore questioned the NPP’s mantra of “Putting Ghana back to work” as a hoax.

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Source: GNA

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There is heavy vehicular traffic on major roads in the country such as Spintex Road, Kaneshie and Kasoa after the rain.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nKTt0q6RUZjOj9fVcmgqEER37FusioS1″]The situation has resulted in serious congestion on the roads due to the immotorable nature of some adjoining roads.

Some drivers who called into the Citi Breakfast Show lamented that attempts by other drivers to manoeuvre their way through traffic have resulted in a gridlock, requiring police presence to restore order.

But Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Alexander Obeng, Head of Education, Research and Training, MTTU, has said that the Police have already deployed personnel to address the situation.

“Traffic police officers are scattered all over those areas. We are doing what we have to do. It is because of the coincidence that it is rush hour, and usually traffic is there and it’s intended indiscipline among motorists, and the rains that have blown down burying the road compounding traffic, but there shouldn’t be panic,” he said.

“It is easing all over. Now we are on the ground and we are doing what we have to do,” he added.

Many parts of Accra and Kumasi have been submerged in flood waters, curtailing vehicular movement after few hours of rain on Friday morning.

Most drivers have been forced to make a detour, while others have parked their vehicles due to the pool of flood waters on major highways.

Areas such as Teshie-Nungua, Lapaz, Shiashie, Darkuman and Kaneshie in Accra and Kumasi Ahensan, have been badly affected.

The flooding situation has resulted in a gridlock in areas such as Tetteh Quarshie, Kaneshie and Lapaz.

The situation according to the Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, may not improve until the country makes a $700 million investment to permanently fix it.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Most drivers have been forced to make a detour, while others have parked their vehicles due to the pool of flood waters on major highways.

Areas such as Teshie-Nungua, Lapaz, Shiashie, Darkuman and Kaneshie have been badly affected.

The flooding situation has resulted in a gridlock in areas such as Kaneshie, Tetteh Quarshie and Lapaz.

The flood waters have also washed debris and all kinds of filth unto the streets.

The flood raises questions about governments; past and present’s competence to address the problem which has become a perennial one.

Following a downpour in February 2017 that wrecked havoc in the area, the Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta Akyea, said the country requires $700 million to permanently fix the issue.

But before the amount is raised to commence works to halt the floods, city authorities and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, have contracted a private company to dredge some major drains in the capital to allow water to flow freely whenever it rains.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The rains that lasted about less than an hour rendered some roads impassable.

Accompanied by strong winds, thunder, and lightening the rain caused many motorists to park their cars and move to safety.

The meteorological service had served notice that heavy rains are expected from now until the end of the rainy season in August.

Last month, the aftermath of a downpour in Accra left pools of water on some major roads including the Abeka Junction section of the Achimota-Accra road, Mallam Junction, as well as the Okponglo section of the Madina-37 highway.

Filth also engulfed some parts of the capital after the downpour.

The flood raises questions about governments; past and present’s competence to address the problem which has become a perennial one.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Assembly in a statement copied to citifmonline.com identified fourteen (14) low lying areas within its precincts prone to flooding and matched open parks as safe havens for shelter.

The statement said, the safe havens could serve as temporary shelter for victims of flood.

Below is a list of flood prone areas and safe havens where the public in the identified communities are expected to seek shelter in case of any eventuality with respect to flooding or any other disaster that may accompany it.

The Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Nuumo Blafo in an interview with Citi News said, said the assembly was also disilting major drains within the city to avoid devastating effects of the floods.

“What the AMA is also doing is desilting of the major drains and we are advising people within the communities to desilt the minor drains around them,” he said.

He also cautioned the public against dumping solid waste into drains at the onset of the rains.

The alert comes after a report by Citi News‘ Kojo Agyemang that noted a looming danger of major floods in Accra due to activities of garbage collectors who dump waste into the Odaw River, a major drainage in Accra that discharges into the Atlantic Ocean.

Ghana’s capital, Accra has in the last decade suffered series of flooding resulting in the loss of lives and properties. The worst of such events recorded in recent history with on June 3, 2015.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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The exercise has become necessary as a result of the increasing number of cholera cases and deaths in the Accra metropolis.

Accra has been innundated with refuse, with refuse-collection companies refusing to clear them due to the government’s indebtedness to them.

On Monday night, about 40 tipper trucks and other heavy equipment were deployed to the sites to cart the refuse to a new dumping site, provided in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, along with the Minister of Health, Dr Kweku Agyeman Mensah, and other Ministers, visited the Agbogbloshie Market, Sodom and  Gomorrah, parts of the Korle Lagoon and Kokomlemle.

The Vice President expressed concern about the level of filth that has engulfed the capital.

He said, the exercise is to immediately clear all the heaps of refuse in the metropolis to safeguard the health of Ghanaians, as the government works to find a lasting solution to waste disposal problem in the country.

According to Mr. Amissah-Arthur, the government “has been concerned about the cholera cases and the filth that is engulfing” the capital.

He stated that the government had “observed the accumulation of waste in the area” and had initiated “an  immediate crash program to remove all the refuse heaps in Accra and allow the city manage, on a daily basis, the filth that is collected.”

The Vice-President expressed  “concern about the lives of people” in the light of the recent cholera outbreak in the metropolis.

Over 500 cases of cholera have so far been recorded in Accra alone since June leading to about 15 deaths,  with the Public Health Directorate of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) warning  that the outbreak in the metropolis was gradually reaching an epidemic status.

The Vice President called for an attitudinal change towards sanitation, saying ensuring hygiene is both personal and a shared responsibility.

“We have to try to manage ourselves. There are some responsibilities for individuals that would not lead to the situation in the capital,” he said.

“We have to make it a sustainable effort on the part of the individuals themselves to manage this.”

Vice President Amissah-Arthur, however, admitted that the country faces a huge challenge in “achieving the millennium goals with regards to sanitation.”

Meanwhile the AMA boss says they are in the process of acquiring two landfill sites which will greatly help in managing waste in the national capital.

The newly-commissioned Nsumia Waste Disposal facility began operations last Wednesday and has been engineered to contain refuse for the next two years and replace the closed Pantang landfill site.

It is expected that the new landfill sites would reduce the pressure on the Kpone landfill site which, up until now, was the only site receiving garbage from Accra.

The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Chief Executive, Alfred Vanderpuiye, says the acquisition of the new landfill sites would “create an opportunity to clear the refuse in town.”

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the nation must also adopt a radical import substitution agenda as well as continue with the implementation of the comprehensive structural transformation plan.

Mr Amissah-Arthur was speaking at the National Stakeholders Dialogue on Boosting Ghana’s foreign exchange resources in Accra.

The meeting attracted business persons and economic operators who shared their experiences and expertise to enhance the consensus at economic management, particularly in resolving the unfavourable imbalances in trade.

Mr Amissah-Arthur noted that government would continue to review and reform the tax and tariff regimes, incentive schemes and general costs of doing business to ensure that the investment climate is more competitive and attractive.

He urged the participants to use dialogue as an opportunity to practically take on the task of balancing the trade by reducing imports and boosting exports through smart policy intervention in the short term.

He called for strategies to increase the outputs and improve the profitability of the agricultural and industrial sectors as a first step.

Mr Amissah-Arthur expressed the confidence that the various presentations at the conference would provide sufficient facts and figures on the country’s foreign exchange inflows, export revenue, import outflows and allied expenditure, dwindling production levels and loss of foreign market shares.

He urged the participants to work together to forge a consensus on how best the nation can boost its foreign exchange earnings.

He charged the business community to share their considered solutions in order for the country to have better working policies, systems and processes for sustained growth and development.

Mrs Mona Quartey, Deputy Minister of Finance stressed the need for structural paradigm shift to boost the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

She said this paradigm shift could be done prior to consolidating both the supply and demand side of the economy, adding that, the mix policies and reforms are also to consolidate the government efforts.

She said the current fiscal consolidations are to address the challenges such as revenue mobilization, borrowing and expenditure.

Source: GNA

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