The Odaw River will be dredged within a year – Dredge Masters

General News on Thursday, April 18, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-04-18

Dredge Masters, a sanitation and de-watering company, said dredging the Odaw River to prevent flooding in the capital would be completed within a year.

According to the company, dredging the main drains in Accra should become a routine exercise to avoid flooding.

S addressing the media after inspecting work on OdawRiver, operations manager at Dredge Masters, Sena Adiepena said the dredging would prevent flooding and accompanying problems in the capital.

"The equipment has been deployed. Planning and side visits with the client and consultants were done in March and, looking at the progress of the work, we hope that this year we can do enough to avoid any disaster. We hope that in less than a year, we will be able to complete this work, "said Mr. Adiepena.

The Minister of Public Works and Housing, Samuel Atta-Akyea, has already told Parliament that dredging of the lower Odaw River would begin immediately.

This, he said, is part of the government's critical management plan to combat persistent floods, particularly in Accra.

Atta-Akyea, who briefed Parliament on the plans of the ministry to deal with the floods a few days ago, presented some drainage projects that will begin across the country.

He said the projects would cost about 194.5 million GHc.

"With regard to the Odaw River, which has caused a lot of flooding in the nation's capital, improvement work has been done on some parts of the channel … In the meantime, the ministry has renewed the contract with Dredge Masters. for two years. "

Haruna Iddrisu, leader of the minority, said the ministry may not be able to carry out its projects due to the irregular release of funds.

"We want to reform our country's drainage system and eliminate open drains. I can only sympathize with you because you can not do much without money. These releases from the Ministry of Finance do not arrive early. "

The water spilled muffled drains on the roads in parts of Accra after the recent downpour, killed five people and destroyed properties.

Kofi Kekeli Amedzro, an urban planner and urban planner, suggested that the government and city authorities reorganize Accra to end the perpetual floods in the capital.

He said the government needed to commit enough financial resources to tackle the problem.

"We need to develop an integrated waste management system that ensures that solid waste does not enter the main drainage system. As a priority, we need to make this a key issue in which to invest. We can not wait for this to become a major focus for the discussions each year. If we are serious about this, we must invest heavily in this project and ensure that all engineering work is completed, "he told The Point of View on Monday.

Floods show government can not make Accra the cleanest city – Zanetor Rawlings

NDC deputy of Klottey Korle's electoral district, Zanetor Rawlings, also said the Akufo-Addo administration could not make the national capital, Accra, the cleanest city in Africa by 2020.

According to her, the agenda, almost three years old, is a failure, as the city continues to struggle to manage its waste.

"I do not see the necessary things in place for this to happen. You always see garbage everywhere. The amount of waste left when the water is removed after flooding [on Sunday] was pretty phenomenal. "

"This is the third year since this promise was made. Accra is far from being the cleanest city in West Africa, not to mention the continent, "she added.