The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye (MP) has charged the governing board of the newly established Ghana Hydrological Authority to assist in developing a drainage masterplan that will be crucial in the country’s resolve to address perennial flooding that continue to cause significant damage to livelihood and properties.

The Minister further called on the Board, drawn from different fields with diverse expertise to also guide the Authority in exploring different sources of funding to enhance the country’s flood resilience and position the new Authority as the central point for drainage management, consultancy, as well as supervision across the country.

The sector Minister made these calls when he inaugurated the Governing Board of the Ghana Hydrological Authority, yesterday in Accra.

The inauguration of the Board follows the successful passage of the Ghana Hydrological Authority Act, 2022 (Act 1085), after Government initiated processes to establish an autonomous institution, that will be seen as a fundamental change in the country’s approach to addressing perennial flooding and coastal erosion challenges.

This has seen the conversion of the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry of Works and Housing into an autonomous body, with a responsibility to plan, design, execute, operate, and maintain flood control mechanisms, coastal engineering works, drainage improvement works as well as operational and applied hydrology in the country.

Asenso-Boakye observed that while indiscriminate disposal of solid waste has been identified to be a contributing cause to flooding challenges, ineffective way in which drainage management has been tackled can be partly blamed for the menace across the country.

“We live in a country where institutions with little or no expertise in drainage management and operational hydrology are constructing drains and other infrastructure projects without flood risk assessment and without consulting the then Hydrological Services Department of this Ministry for expert advice during project implementation,” he stated.

The consequential effect, the Minister said, is that flooding challenges such as under-sized culverts, drains and bridges that impede storm water flows are eventually created for the Hydrological Authority to solve.

The Minister therefore implored the Board to collaborate with the various stakeholders in the sector relative to the implementation of projects involving drainage development, adopt the appropriate strategies to ensure that our drainage and sea defense infrastructure are resilient in their respective purposes.

The Chairman of the Board, Mr. Kwasi Anim, assured of the Board’s readiness to discharge its duties with zeal and integrity to guide management in its efforts to addressing the flooding menace.