Are We Prepared For The Rains?

The Meteorological Services Agency (MSA) is yet to serve us with a forecast for this year's rainy season which is just around the corner.

We wish they would do so without delay. We have had a few downpours which appear to have confused farmers as to whether to commence planting or tarry a while.

Be it as it may, we are concerned about the flood factor which is now a feature of Accra when heavy rains are recorded.

We are apprehensive that nothing has been done to forestall floods should we have major deluges in the arriving season.

The main and secondary drainages are still clogged with all manner of waste, especially the dangerous non-biodegradable stuff which constitutes the major part of wastes in Accra.

We have observed the efforts by the authorities to inculcate the spirit of hygiene and community cleanliness in the citizenry but unfortunately the exercise has not gone far enough.

The sanitation day exercise is by and large miniscule in terms of its ability to manage the large level of filth in especially Accra.

This is the best time to prepare for the approaching rainy season otherwise we could be regretting our folly. For the past years we have had to call the attention of the authorities to the need to ensure that the necessary desilting of drainages is undertaken as one of the many ways of preparing for the rainy season.

We do not have to wait to be threatened by avoidable floods before we start a discussion about what we could have done to avoid the situation in which we find ourselves.

It is not enough for politicians to visit victims of floods with promises of relief materials when the negative situation could have been avoided in the first place anyway.

Many more houses have been built on waterways than in previous years – a suggestion that should there be a major deluge, we would have re-enacted what we suffered before.

The political will to enforce the necessary bylaws to obviate floods is lacking by the leadership at the head of the country. Under such circumstances, we are bound to suffer untold hardships.

When the heavens open up, we would be praying for the situation not to degenerate into floods. Recklessness or poor planning cannot be managed with prayers.

The local authorities should wake up now because when floods visit Accra we would hold them responsible, regardless of how many awards they earn from so-called commercial entities which bestow such honours.

Metal containers which serve as accommodations still litter Accra as some of them obstruct the movement of water through our choked drainages.

Until we are satisfied that major desilting exercises have been undertaken and obstructions standing on waterways removed, we would remain apprehensive about what lies ahead as we usher in the season of deluges.