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General News of Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-04-16
The capital is still flooded after rainy hours
The president, Nana Akufo-Addo, reiterated that the change of attitude was a panacea for the perpetual floods experienced in the national capital and in other parts of the country.
"Beyond resolving infrastructure issues, our attitude towards sanitation must also change, in order to help solve the problem of persistent floods in Accra. The authorities are sparing no effort to solve this problem, "tweeted Nana Akufo-Addo Tuesday.
At least 12 people were taken to Accra and around 30,000 were reportedly displaced two days after hours of heavy rains in the last seven days.
Among the dead were a couple, both serving officers and an 11-month-old toddler. Staff Sergeant Arthur Jabez, 45, and his wife, 40-year-old Warrant Officer Sarah Kuadzi, were traveling to Tema at a military funeral when their vehicle was been caught in flood waters in a suburb of the highway called Adjei-Kojo.
NADMO is still looking for the bodies of a six-year-old boy and an adult man who were swept away by the floodwaters in Sakaman and Ablekuma, respectively. The bodies of a man who was pushed into the Odaw River around the Kwame Nkrumah interchange and the one of the 11-month-old baby are also in demand.
Commenting on the floods in a series of tweets, the president said; "The announcement of the death of 12 people during the recent floods that hit the capital of our country is very sad. My sincere condolences to the families of the deceased.
He added that "197 million GH ¢ have been allocated to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to unmount the muffled drains, contracts for the works have been awarded and are under way."
Wise Ametepe, a hydrology expert, believes Accra may be on the brink of a disaster after this year's rains if this year's rain forecast by the Ghana Meteorological Agency materializes.
"Even when we have 40 millimeters of rain [there is flooding]. Some time earlier, 40 millimeters of precipitation would not have caused flooding; 50 millimeters would not have caused any floods, "he said at the Super Morning show on Joy FM on Monday.
A Deputy Director General of the National Disaster Management Organization [NADMO] stated that there would be no sustainable solution to flooding in Ghana until there is a change in attitude.
Abu Ramadan, who spoke at Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Tuesday, said the human element was responsible for 60% to 70% of floods in the country.
"There may not be a lasting solution," Ramadan said. "The reason I say that is; we can do anything we want, spend billions of dollars to restructure our drains, but if the attitude of the Ghanaian does not change, it is always nil.
"In Ghana, we do not have natural disasters, with regard to rains and all the rest, they are all created and created by man because of our own attitude and the way we do our things. This contributes to the floods you see, "Ramadam told Joy FM's host.
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