Have We Learnt Our Lessons From The June 3 Disaster As A Nation?

Known in Ghanaian history as one of the major natural disasters that has befallen the nation,the June 3 disaster is by far the worst disaster that cannot be easily erased from the memories of Ghanaians. The sad incident occurred on the 3rd of June 2015 after a heavy downpour in the nations capital.

It all happened like a dream , in fact just like the chief bakers dream and the consequences of this dream was so devastating.

The long hours of rain in one night left the whole nation in tears and sorrows. In a poorly planned city where houses are sited anywhere and anyhow according to the choice of the house owner,with a carelessly reckless citizens who dump their home made refuse into flood waters. Accra became a sorry sight on that night. Almost every single gutter in Accra whether big or small overflowed its banks.

The gutters were tributaries of the Odaw river and a wider Korle Lagoon both of which were sited at circle, a busy business center in Accra. Like the tributaries that flowed them, the two drains were soon to be covered with the sea of floods which found its way into homes and offices close by. Thousands of residents were trapped in their own homes. Many others who found circle to be a major route to their homes were also trapped too. At that point, the Goil filling station at circle appeared to be the only cork of refuge, a higher ground in a lowered city overtaken by floods. There they stood hundreds of them waiting patiently for the rains to subside and for the floods to recede.

Around 10 pm that same night, another disaster struck. This time, the Goil filling station which held a stranded a group of citizens was up in flames. There was a fuel leakage which mixed with the flood waters. According to eye witness, there was a fire from a lit cigarette and apparently there was a blast because the cigarette had been in contact with the fuel. At this point, the filling station which was a place of refuge for hundreds of people that night became a place of torture, a place of death, more deaths, tens of thousands of deaths. The fire spread like a wind aided by the toxic mixture of fuels and floods. All night long,human beings were burnt,homes were torn down ,businesses were shattered in a deadly twin fire and flood disaster.

When the nation woke up from its bad dreams ,over 150 lives were lost ,with several others severely injured ; five houses together with the filling station had all been damaged which was valued at GH¢1,658,847.00.

On the 16th of June 2015, a five member committee was set up by the then president John Mahama. This committee was chaired by Mr Justice Isaac Douse a retired appeal court judge to assess the cost of damage as a result of the disaster and submit recommendations. The committee among other things recommended that;

1. There should be a complete dredging of the Odaw river, ban the use of plastics ,water dispensers and cooked food containers.

2. Standardized training ,certification and licensing of fuel station attendants,creation of sanitation police, fitting all commercial vehicles with refuse baskets and also disaster managers should be well equipped with the right tools to handle disasters effectively.

3. Provision of air ambulance and helicopters,fire fighters,which should be managed by the Ghana Air force.

Its been almost two years since this disaster and even as at now, it seems we have not learnt much as a nation. The committee recommended the complete dredging of the Odaw river but my questions is, has it been done? The odaw river has not been completely dredged as recommended. It is still choked and who knows when another disaster will occur? People continue to drop plastics,dispensers etc into this same rover day in day out.

The committee also recommended the establishment of sanitation police. Well,its almost two years now and I haven't heard anything about this sanitation police. When are we going to implement the recommendations?, do we even think like a nation? Its like the leaders of this country are just not serious. When there is a disaster, they'll be the first to set up committees but when their so called committee gives a recommendation,they finds it difficult to implement them. Sometimes I wonder how our leaders think. We'll waste the tax payers money to set up these committees but will fail to put their recommendations into action. It is about time we put our leaders on their toes. We can't continue to be living this way. As it stands now,I wouldn't be surprised if the same incident should happen again because of our leaders gross incompetence towards disaster management. From the central medical stores inferno to the 2014 world cup fiasco and still counting, what has been about those reports? Or out interest just lies in setting up the committees?

Let's build our dear nation once and for all.
God Bless Ghana.
Kwame Asante
Techiman.