Flood victims to drag Ghana Highway Authority to court

Some flood victims at Mallam Junction, a suburb of Accra are taking the Ghana Highways Authority to court over a wrongful construction of a drainage that has aggravated their already worsened predicament.

This decision was taken after several persuasions to get G.H.A.to change the direction of the said drainage failed.

The structural design of the drainage has been identified as a main cause for the perennial floods in the area.

Unfortunately, the construction of N1 Highway which was initially considered to provide lasting solution to the problem has rather worsen the situation as all the gutters linking homes to the main drainage have been blocked.

The residents for the past twenty years have been battling with severe floods which have caused damage to properties and loss of lives.

The residents have been homeless after severe rains in the early hours of Friday. Some of the affected areas are Awoshie, Santa Maria, South Odorkor, Mallam and South McCarthy Hill.

Madam Matilda Denkyi, owner of a super market at Mallam junction had her wares running into thousands of Cedis submerged by water.

She therefore appealed to Government to do something about the situation.

According to Mr. Kwabena Denkyi, Chairman of the Mallam and South McCarthy Hill Residents Association, the area was not experiencing any kind of flood until Total Ghana built a filling station along the Mallam Kasoa road which compelled the Ghana Highway Authority to change the direction of the water way which carried voluminous water from various sources to the sea.

Although no casualties were recorded this time round, records indicate that four lives have been lost in the past few years.

Mr. Denkyi told myjoyonline.com that the Association has exhausted all available means to get officials of both past and present administrations.