The Community of Alogboshie, a suburb in the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly, will be the first to benefit from infrastructural projects under Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project.
The GARID project, worth $200 million and funded by the World Bank, is to support communities along the Odaw river with construction of access roads, primary and secondary drains, extension of street lights and water network.
The goal is to improve public services, reduce perennial flooding challenges and enhance the living conditions of low-income communities in the Greater Accra Region, a category Alogboshie falls into.
This was revealed during a sod cutting ceremony at the Alogboshie durbar grounds by Mr Francis Asenso – Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, officials of State Agencies, together with the Chief of Alogboshie after undertaking scoping, preparation of community upgrading plan, environmental and social impact assessment and engineering designs, amongst others.
Mr Asenso-Boakye
said the project was the beginning of a transformative journey of Alogboshie and the interventions were a testament of the government’s commitment to enhancing basic social infrastructure and reducing the vulnerability of low-income communities.
He said the preparation and implementation of the resettlement action plan for Alogboshie had been carried out, adding the interventions alone cannot eradicate floods in Accra and parts of the country unless they were driven by positive attitudinal change.
‘Governments have invested significant resources in the national flood control. These investments have been undermined by inappropriate behaviours of some Ghanaians, including communities along the Odaw channel.
Some citizens build in water ways, others dump waste into drains,’ the Minister said.
He urged the Assemblies to work and strictly enforce building and sanitation regulations to nip any indiscipline in the bud with support from the media through their platforms.
Mr Asenso-Boakye said the Ministry of Wor
ks and Housing in collaboration with the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Water Resource Commission, Ghana Meteorological Agency and NADMO were establishing flood early warning systems under the GARID project for the Greater Accra Region.
The systems would provide advance notifications to flood prone communities so they could take the necessary steps to protect lives and properties and a variety of equipment had been handed over to the institutions.
Dr Ohene Sarfo, the GARID Project Coordinator, said construction works were beginning immediately to ensure the interventions were delivered as scheduled.
‘We are strengthening the Assemblies through training and giving grants for routine dredging. We have procured drones to enable the Assemblies to improve the management of the buffer (land closer to water bodies).
Madam Madhu Raghunath, Practice Manager, The World Bank, said risks to perennial flooding had often been occasioned by insufficient drainage infrastructure and solid waste management, however, the int
erventions would reduce these risks and improve the quality of environment for the Alogboshie community.
‘It is our hope that this project could be replicated in other parts of Accra. We call for continuous engagement between the project facilitators and the community for a smooth execution of the project,’ she said.
Source: Ghana News Agency