An assembly man within the Korle Klottey Municipality, Mr. Edward Doe has stated that the Odaw River is the reason flooding occurs within Accra Central.
The Odaw River which was strategically structured to flow from the Abokobi and Adjankote hills through Ashongman, Atomic Energy Area West Legon, Achimota, Alajo, Avenor, Agbogbloshie and finally into the Atlantic Ocean, presently cannot hold the least amount of continuous showers especially in the rainy season.
Speaking to e.TV Ghana’s Kobina Baidoo, the Assembly Man of the Asylum Down stated that every year the government undertakes a dredging exercise in the Odaw River to decrease the possibilities of flooding during the rainy season but none have occurred this year so far, which is worrying.
He tagged Asylum Down as ‘one of the most affected areas in Accra during the rainy season and the last stop for most of the improperly disposed waste across the region’, mainly caused by sediments and debris which gather over time in the river before the rainy season. “When it comes to floods, there are three things that we look at. The water, the refuse and sand which gather over time in the Odaw River; the refuse is just about 15% of the problem; however, the sand is about 70% which gives the water no place to go even as it carries the waste from Ayawaso North to these parts of Korle Klottey Municipality,” he enlightened.
“I do my best; I always embark on clean up exercises and distilling drains among other things; that is what I can do but there is a bigger problem.” he noted.
By: Kobina Badu Baidoo