Sanitation Task Force cleans drains ahead of rains

Members of the National Sanitation Task Force have begun clearing silt from drains in the Accra metropolis ahead of this year’s rains to prevent the flooding of the national capital. The 200-member task force was supported by the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Jospong Group of Companies, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyapong, during the first day of the exercise at Apenkwa.

Members of the task force, equipped with long brooms, shovels, rakes, among others, cleared and removed plastic waste, sand and weeds from the channel at Apenkwa which connect the Odaw canal.

Each year, Accra experiences flooding, some tragic, at different locations of the city.

To address the perennial flooding, the government this year launched a $600-million Conti project to dredge the silted Korle Lagoon and the Odaw canal.

Although the project is yet to start, Dr Vanderpuye said there was the need to start some work to prepare the city for the impending rains.

He indicated that the exercise would be sustained to ensure that the critical drains were able to carry the volumes of run-off associated with heavy downpours.

Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, the Minister of Local  Government and Rural Development, directed all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to halt the construction of open drains, as they contributed to the flooding problem in parts of the country.