President Tours Flood-Prone Areas

President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday toured some flood-prone areas in Accra to assess the extent of damage caused to lives and property in Tuesday night’s downpour, which lasted for almost five hours in those areas.

The brief unannounced visit, which began about 11:30 a.m., took the President to areas around Kaneshie, Dansoman and North Kaneshie.

The President was accompanied on the tour by Nii Armah Ashitey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister; Mr Albert Abongo, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) boss, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.

The rest are the two Deputy Information Ministers, Messrs Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa and James Agyenim-Boateng and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) boss, Mr Kofi Portuphy.

At South Odorkor, in an area known as “Chabas”, two houses were submerged, while residents were seen trying to retrieve their property from the buildings.

President Atta Mills used the occasion to express his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and sympathised with those whose property were destroyed.

He assured the people of the government’s commitment to ensure that the perennial floods and their devastating effects would become a thing of the past.

“We have come here to see the difficulties that you face any time there is rain. But sometimes, these problems are created by us,” he said.

The President took the opportunity to advise the residents to adhere strictly to regulations governing siting of buildings in any part of the country, stressing “we need to do what is important first before any other thing.”

President Atta Mills, however, directed the relevant authorities to remove all unauthorised structures on watercourses to avoid the inconveniences and the embarrassment caused to the nation.

Some of the residents told the President that due to choked gutters and the indiscriminate siting of buildings on watercourses, they were always in fear anytime there were signs of rains.