The Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA) has commenced the implementation of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project within the Municipality.
The project, targeted at 17 Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies (MMAs) in the Greater Accra Region, is aimed at finding lasting solutions to flooding and sanitation challenges in the region.
Mrs Elizabeth Kaakie Mann, Municipal Chief Executive of Ga East Municipal Assembly at a
stakeholder engagement to kick start the project said the project aimed at improving flood risk and solid waste management in the Odaw River Basin.
She added that it would also ‘improve access to basic infrastructure and services in the targeted communities within the Odaw River Basin for which our municipalities are an integral part.’
She said under the project, the Municipality would benefit from among others, the construction of a Waste Transfer Sanitation and Retention Pond both at Atomic.
‘Other benefits include dredging of drains and water course and desilting of choked gutters in some part of the municipality,’ she added.
Mrs Mann added that the Assembly was making efforts to fix some poor roads in some parts of the Municipality including the Abokobi-Teiman, Abokobi-Pantang and Abokobi-Old Ashongman, as well as mobilize resources to undertake
reshaping exercise on some of the community roads.
‘Currently we are also enforcing the Operation Clean Your Frontage campaign as well as the Assemblies by-laws on sanitation and physical development to ensure that the incidence of flooding was drastically reduced in the Municipality.’
She appealed to stakeholders, especially traditional authorities, religious leaders, and resident associations to use various platforms and meetings to support public education on the need to curb negative practices that resulted in flooding.
‘I also urge business owners and the general public to ensure that they keep their immediate surroundings clean and without filth at all times and ensure that drains and gutters near them are desilted and cleaned regularly,’ she added.
Mr Daniel Baah Tenkorang, the Municipal
Planning Officer for the Assembly said the lack of cooperation from members of the community was a key challenge of the project.
He said the Assembly was going to involve stakeholders in the implementation of projects to know their thought on how to go about it.
Mrs Elizabeth Yeboah, Environmental Health Officer, GEMA said improper disposal of solid waste was the major cause of the flood.
‘When it rains the refuse that we dispose of in our communities go to the drains which land in the Odaw River at the end of the day,’ she added.
She noted that the Sanitation taskforce of the Assembly had started implementing the Assembly by-laws, and anyone found guilty of improper disposal of waste would be fined or prosecuted.
Mrs Yeboah encouraged the public to desist from dumping indiscriminately and urged them
to register with the accredited door-to-door refuse collection contractors from the Assembly.
Source: Ghana News Agency