The Project Coordinator for the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project (GARID), Dr Ohene Sarfo has announced that measures are being implemented to address perennial floods during the rainy season.

He emphasised that consultants have been commissioned to undertake various designs for engineering solutions to the persistent flooding in drainage areas.

Addressing the media during a meeting with the Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and other stakeholders on Saturday, April 13, Dr Sarfo stated that contracts have been awarded since last year for several interventions, with progress being made in concluding designs for remaining works.

He clarified that contracts have been awarded for dredging the Odaw under a new framework called the Performance-Based Contracting Approach to Dredging, with the contractor currently on site conducting dredging activities.

“We have also awarded a contract for the repairs and widening of the broken sections of the Odaw channel from the Achimota overhead, all the way to the N1 overhead. We have awarded a contract for the reconstruction of the drain from Nima-Paloma on the Ring Road all the way to the pedestrian mall outfall in the Odaw channel.” 

Dr Sarfo further stated that contracts have been awarded for upgrading sections of the Alogboshie community in the Greater Accra region, where perennial flooding persists despite major interventions.

“The analysis showed that those communities lacked basic infrastructure, drainage infrastructure in particular, plus other basic services. And so there are two contracts being undertaken in Alogboshie that would improve the stormwater drain as well as the local drains, pedestrian access ways, vehicular access ways with the extension of the water network as well as street lighting. 

“Similarly, we have another intervention at Akweteyman that suffers the same conditions as Alogboshie and will do similar interventions of stormwater improvement, local drains, vehicular improvements, pedestrian access improvements, water supply extension, and street lighting,” he added. 

The GARID Project Coordinator maintained that contracts have been awarded for a section of Nima where the contractor is in place and undertaking similar interventions as the other two communities.

“We are happy also to inform you that we have received approval to award contracts for the reconstruction and expansion of the drainage in Kaneshie, and we are presently going to issue what we call the standstill period, where we will notify all bidders and then following on which we will proceed to contract the winning contractor to proceed to do the interventions.”

On his side, the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, admitted that the project is not progressing as quickly as initially expected.

He clarified that review processes and mechanisms, including compensation for project-affected persons, contributed to the delays.

"We understand the reasons for some of the delays, but nonetheless, I think that it is fair to say that the project has not moved as quickly as we want it to move," Mr Nkrumah stated.

He outlined efforts to resolve bottlenecks, including amending the review process to make it concurrent, providing compensation to project-affected persons, and ensuring secure areas where validation exercises have been completed.

“Number one is to amend the review process to make it concurrent instead of successive so that it is faster to do the reviews and to give the contractors permission to do the various phases of the work that is ahead of them. 

“We are also pleased that the amendments have been made, so that now some compensation can be made available to the project-affected persons, and then they can quickly vacate the places where the project will be requiring some interventions so that those interventions can also take place,” he added.