According to the company, squatters who live along the banks of the River, dump solid waste into it, compounding issues of flooding in Accra.

[contextly_sidebar id=”JmLxfradpH3sJ7ZwJv1TkGUQ8Tqc0tdp”]The Odaw River serves as a major channel that carries waste water from the city into the Atlantic Ocean.

Speaking to Citi News after last weekend’s downpour that flooded parts of Accra, Benard Amoh, the Operations Officer of Dredge Masters, said until steps are taken to control the dumping of garbage into the river, the channel will remain choked and cause further floods whenever it rains.

“Since we started, I can say we have removed about 1 million cubic meters of waste from the drain and as it stands now, the work that we have done is gone to zero because the canal is silted, there is no flow of water. We have now started a maintenance dredging that we have to come to clear all this silt again so that when there is heavy rainfall it does not affect the people dumping into the canal.”

“We have to come back to dredge again because with the onset of the rain, we don’t know how it will come. The major challenge is for the city authority to come and ward off the people or prevent them from dumping directly into the drain.”

Parts of Accra were flooded after a downpour over the weekend. This has triggered a longstanding discussion about how to resolve the country’s perennial flooding especially in the capital, Accra.

The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, earlier this week said Ghana needs $700 million to permanently address the flooding menace in Accra.

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

The post Eject squatters to avert flooding – Dredge Masters appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

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

The post Flood alert: AMA names 14 safe grounds for Accra residents appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.