President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure that developments along waterways and obstructions to the free flow of water are removed immediately.
The President tasked the MMDAs to ensure developers adhere strictly to the planning laws of the country and sanction any staff who issue permits for structures to be built on waterways.
A monitoring team, the President indicated, has been established to report to him on the progress of the directives, adding Chief Executives of the MMDAs would be held responsible for any breach of the planning laws of the country.
He said as the country's coastal areas were susceptible to flooding, it was of utmost necessity that the integrity of dynamic shorelines was regularly maintained.
President Akufo-Addo gave the directives on Wednesday when he commissioned two Dredge Masters and two marine equipment at Adjei Kojo near Ashaiman in Accra to maintain rivers, channels and inland waterways to enable free flow of water.
Dredge Masters Limited (DML Ghana), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, is a leading provider of cutting-edge modern technological dredging services in Ghana.
The President recalled some major interventions the government had made to stop flooding in the Greater Accra Region.
For instance, he said the government since 2017, had spent some GHC450 million on flood control programmes that had reduced the incidence of flooding in major flood-prone areas in Accra.
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President Akufo-Addo said phase 5 of the Accra cemetery sewage and stormwater alleviation project, which is intended to ensure the Odaw channel is free of slit and debris, has been commissioned.
The construction of 19 kilometres of drains, the President indicated, has been completed while about 1,000km of drains have been excavated, re-channelled and maintained across the country, as part of efforts to reduce the perennial flooding.
"However, it is obvious from recent events that more needs to be done to deal with the situation of flooding permanently," he said.
The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, said experts have indicated that enhancing stormwater conveyance in major streams and channels while improving the holding capacity of lagoons are among the surest ways to minimise the risk of flooding in the country.
The Minister assured that the ministry would ensure that the President's directives were obeyed.
The Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies, Joseph Siaw Agyepong, on his part, said the introduction of the ultra-modern IHC beaver 50 dredger and marine equipment would improve the dredging capacity of the Dredge Masters.
