15 DROWN IN FLOODS

The Minister of Works and Housing, Atta Akyia, his two Deputies, Eugene Antwi and Freda Prempeh, the Director of Hydrological Agency, Hubert Osei-Wusu Ansah, the Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organization, Eric Nana Agyemang, Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah and the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Osei Assibey-Antwi, have toured most of the badly affected communities and areas to learn at first hand, the extent of the damage caused by floods in the Ashanti region since last Thursday.

 About 15 lives have been lost to the floods in the region, while the value of damage caused to properties is estimated at thousands of Ghana Cedis. 

Many residents have been rendered homeless following the destruction of their places by floods as a result of the incessant torrential rains during the period.

 This is considered the worst of such disasters to happen to the region in recent history. A case in point was at Asebi Junction in the Asokore Mampong Municipality when last Thursday during the rains, the Sisa River burst its banks caused heavy floods that carried away a metal container in which a mother and four of her children were taking refuge. 

Bodies of the four children were discovered, while the women is yet to be found. As if that was not enough, bridges that connect some communities and districts have also been broken completely thereby rendering the access roads and the communities inaccessible while serving as death trap to visitors who attempt to use those roads.

 Two of them are the bridges linking the Buokrom Quarry in Kumasi and Truba in the Kwabre East Municipality while another concrete bridge over the Oda River that connects Ejisu and Donoa and adjoining communities in the Ejisu Municipality has also broken down. 

A steel pedestrian bridge that connects Ahinsan and Ahinsan Estate has also been destroyed by the floods compelling some residents to improvise with low wooden bridges for which the people are charged One Ghana Cedi for every use.

 Private houses have also been damaged or heavily flooded rendering the inhabitants homeless, albeit temporary while the drainage systems along some major roads have been washed away with the quality of some recently constructed roads badly exposed. 

The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyia, said urgent solutions will be found for those bridges which damage disconnect communities while government takes time to comprehensively address the issue of obsolete drainage systems across the country. 'The damage caused to drainage systems is a serious concern to the Akufo-Addo government to fix. Even if government has to raise Bonds like had been done for other projects, we will do that to address the problem of antiquated drainage in the country', the Minister assured.