The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, is assuring that if he is voted as president again, he will solve the current flooding situation with engineering solutions.
In a Facebook post on Monday, May 27, Mahama criticized the current administration for its failure to provide a comprehensive flood prevention and management plan.
“Protecting the lives and properties of our people should be a top priority for a government. The current administration has failed in this regard,” he said, making mentions of dredging interventions on the Odaw river.
“According to the government, $200 million was spent on the Greater Accra Resilient Integrated Development Programme (GARID). While the impact of that huge amount and its intervention have yet to be felt, parliament was recently recalled to approve another $150 million for the same GARID.”
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Given the opportunity to become president again, Mahama says his government will not rest until “we find an engineering solution to the persistent flooding and implement an effective prevention and management plan.”
His plan includes investing in sustainable drainage systems, clearing structures in waterways, proper waste management, and proactive measures to mitigate the impact of heavy rains, he said.
For over two weeks now, rains often accompanied by high winds and thunderstorms have kick-started Ghana’s annual rainy season. Most of Ghana’s major roads and suburbs flooded as a result. The Ghana Meteorological Agency warned two months ago that more flooding will occur.
The floods are partly due to the many issues of poor drainage and urban planning, but it’s also linked to the disturbing problem of climate change and global warming. Recently big cities like Dubai were submerged by flood waters and the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group, a global consortium of climate scientists, attributed it to the role of global warming.
Earlier this month, Kenya also experienced devasting floods that claimed the lives of more than 200 people.
