The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has bemoaned the continuing presence of the conditions that resulted in the flooding of Ghana’s capital, Accra on June 3, 2015.

National Coordinator of NADMO, Brigadier General Francis Vib Sanzirin said the presence of these factors namely the absence of good drainage systems and the presence of filling stations cited on waterways means the capital must brace up for more flooding in the future.

The NADMO boss was speaking to Joy News in a special June 3 interview as the entire country prepares to mark the first Anniversary of the disaster.

An estimated 154 Ghanaians lost their lives during a heavy downpour combined with the explosion of the Goil Filling Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

The government and Accra City Authority vowed never to let that incident be repeated in the nation’s capital.

A five-member committee set up to investigate happenings surrounding the disaster made some recommendations which include the dredging of the Odaw river and the Korle Lagoons all in Accra.

Reacting to a question about the implementation of the committee’s recommendation, Brigadier General Sanzirin expressed worry in what he described as the slow pace of work.

He asserted some of the filling stations which were earmarked to be pulled down because they are sitting on major waterways are still there.

“When you go to the Mallam Junction, there is a Total Filling Station that has blocked the river,” he said.

He also said that “At the Accra Academy there is supposed to be a major drain under the road at First Light.”

He believe if the necessary infrastructural redesigning is not put in place, “there is no way we will have a free flow of water into the sea because those areas are always flooding.”

Delving into the role of the organisation, the NADMO boss said “Our ultimate objective will be that when they come and go we should save lives. Nobody should be affected.”

We cannot prevent the floods, he said adding “we can only mitigate the floods.”

Meanwhile, Parliament’s Works and Housing Committee has blamed local authorities for the continuous flooding of Accra.

The Member of Parliament for Shai Osu Doku, David Tetteh Assuming said the nation would be able to fend off flood-related accidents if enforcement of laws on sanitation and citing of buildings are adhered to by the local authorities.

He disclosed “Human factor contributed towards that disaster in terms of the blockage of the drains in the city.”