Kumasi is safe from floods -Mayor
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Samuel Sarpong, has affirmed that the Kumasi metropolis, unlike Accra, is very safe from flooding.
'It is impossible to experience flooding in Kumasi,' the Mayor declared, in response to an enquiry by the host of Hello FM's Akokoabon talk show last Saturday, as to how ready the KMA was for the rains.
He said there was no cause for alarm, and told residents of the metropolis not to entertain any fears, because the KMA had put measures in place to contain the situation. 'For now, there are enough measures in place to minimise the effects of the rains,' he emphasised.
According to him, while Accra was about to construct storm drains, Kumasi had already constructed them, and that no matter the volume of rain, and the flow of water has been made easier, without necessarily flooding.
The KMA boss said besides the construction of a major storm drain from Asawase through Aboabo to Anloga, which serves the purpose of relieving the three communities, other major drainages had been desilted, making it impossible for the Subin, Susan and Wewe rivers to overflow their banks during the rains.
The Mayor disclosed that the KMA was working to improve drains in other parts of the city, including some at Dichemso and Kaase, for which projects, the KMA was sourcing funding from the French government.
He identified the major cause of flooding as choked drains in the metropolis, which he attributed to the disposal of refuse in the drains during rainfall by some residents, and cautioned them against the practice.
Mr. Sarpong stated that one sure way of preventing floods, and its attendant consequences, was to stop construction on waterways, and charged officials of the Development Control Unit of the KMA to be up and doing, to ensure that buildings are not put up in water ways and river banks.
According to the Mayor, officials of the Development Control office 'had every right to pull down buildings on water ways.'
Mr. Sarpong warned technocrats and prospective developers to ensure that the right thing was done at all times, and called on residents to support the assembly bring sanity into the management of the metropolis.
The Mayor noted that since the deplorable culture of dumping refuse in the drains was a major drawback to the promotion of sound sanitation in the metropolis, the KMA would embark on a systematic education campaign among the communities and residents, on the need not to throw rubbish into the drains to avoid the occurrence of flooding in Kumasi.