The president of the Institute of Engineering and Technology Mr Boateng has said that flooding issues in the country can only be mitigated if the government is ready to invest more money to construct new bigger drains and repair/dredge the old ones to ensure free flow of rain waters when it rains.
He said this on Plan B Fm morning show Nkosuonsem when speaking to Ohene Addo about how floods can be mitigated, Mr Boateng stressed the attitude of the citizenry that, said it was a cause for concern that the issue of flooding had been discussed at length every year but no serious action had been taken on it.
“As long as we continue on that path, things will worsen,” he said.
He said the attitude of the city authorities and some members of the public to waste management and disposal had been horrible, and something needed to be done urgently.
“People pour waste in drains and backyards, which choke the drains. Meanwhile, the authorities fail to act even though there are bye-laws,” he stated.
Sharing his views on the development, Mr Boateng said weak leadership at the local level was the bane of the flooding challenge.
“The basic unit of development in Ghana is the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), and the problem is happening in these units in a cross-border fashion,” and lands been reserved as waterways are been rezoned for highly influential people in various district assemblies.
He said the solution was multi-layered and revolved around enforcement, reducing the amount of water that was thrown out into drains and increasing the capacity of the drains to carry water by ensuring that there was no silt and garbage in the channels.
To promote the conservation of water, he proposed an incentive regime for people who incorporated systems to harvest rainwater into their building designs.
Source:
Maxwell Ohene Addo/Planbfmonline
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