The government has reportedly invested about GH¢450 million in flood control measures under the 2018 and 2020 National Flood Control Programme (NFCP), Minister of Works Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has disclosed.
The amount, he said, is the highest commitment by any government in Ghana’s history and saw to the completion of 35km of drains while over 1,000km more have been excavated, re-channelled and maintained across the country towards reducing the devastating perennial floods.
According to him, the government instituted the NFCP as a vehicle for mitigating flood risk and increase the resilience of vulnerable communities as part of efforts to address the flooding challenge.
The Minister made the disclosure when he took his turn at the Minister’s Press Briefing on Sunday 12th June, 2022 at the Ministry of Information and stressed the government’s commitment to improving the resilience of human settlements to flooding.
He admitted that flooding, a perennial occurrence in Ghana for decades has been most prominent in Accra, resulting in the loss of lives and livelihood, and damage to properties and yet in recent times, other urban centres, such as Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, Koforidua and Tamale have also been experiencing increasing incidents of flooding.
He stated that while accepting flooding incidents globally point to the increasing role of climate change, the government will not use that to shirk its responsibility to ensure flood-resilient drainage infrastructure for the present and the future and assured the Ministry is still intensifying its efforts to mitigate flood risk across the country.
“As part of efforts in tackling flooding in the most vulnerable communities, the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project is being implemented in collaboration with the World Bank, with the objective of mitigating flood risk and addressing the solid waste management challenges in the Odaw Drainage Basin.”
“Currently, the procurement process for the engagement of a contractor for the Performance-Based dredging of the Odaw channel is far advanced and hopefully, the process will be concluded by the end of the month.”
“Additionally, draft detailed engineering designs for the construction of priority drainage interventions at Kaneshie, Nima and Achimota have been completed and are currently being jointly reviewed by the Ministry and the World Bank. It is expected that construction works will commence by the end of this year,” he said.
The Minister disclosed that the government is set to commence the construction of retention ponds by the end of the year in the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission area to hold large volumes of water that would have otherwise flowed towards the city centre to cause flooding.
He added that the design of a Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) for Accra has been completed that will give people in vulnerable communities advanced notice of flooding so they can take steps to protect their lives and their valuables.
He said hydrological gauging stations are also being installed within the White Volta, Oti and Pra River Basins to enhance the country’s preparedness for flood events through the collation of reliable, accurate, timely and robust hydrological data.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye disclosed a proposed Ghana Hydrological Authority Bill is currently before Parliament for consideration and approval as part of the government’s vision to ensure effective flood mitigation and management through strategic planning, effective stakeholder engagement and an integrated approach.
Sea defence
The government, he said, is currently pursuing all sea defence projects along the coast to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of people living in coastal communities.
A number of the projects stretching from Axim to Ningo Prapram have been completed while others are at various stages of completion.
He assured that the Ministry is engaging the Ministry of Finance to raise funds for works to begin on the second phase of the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project following the recent tidal wave devastation of the communities along that coast.
Affordable housing
Speaking on the housing deficit Mr. Asenso-Boakye disclosed the Ministry has been engaging with the Lands and Natural Resources, and the Lands Commission to repurpose government-acquired lands for the provision of affordable housing.
Preparatory works, he said, are currently ongoing on 403 acres of land secured at Pokuase/Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region and Dedesua in the Ashanti Region for the implementation of two pilot schemes.
He indicated that a number of housing projects are ongoing across the country to provide affordable housing to Ghanaians including the second phase of the Kpone Affordable Housing Project to deliver 3,016 housing units among many others.