President Akufo-Addo has charged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to remove structures obstructing the free flow of water immediately.

This comes after parts of Accra were submerged for the second time within a week, after heavy rains on Saturday, May 21 and midnight of Tuesday, May 24.

Speaking at the commissioning of two IHC Beaver Dredger and marine equipment by Dredge Masters, a subsidiary of Jospong Group of Companies at Tema, he asked MMDAs to ensure developers adhere to building permits and to sanction staff who issue permits to buildings on waterways.

He added that sanctioning offenders will serve as a deterrent to others who seek to engage in such acts.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the Presidency has established a monitoring unit that will report directly to the President on the progress of the measures.

He added that MMDCES will be held accountable for any breaches that result in damages from flooding.

“As President of the Republic, I will not allow the selfish acts of the few to jeopardise the collective futures of the rest of us. While government does its part, we cannot overlook the negative effects of dumping of refuse into open drains by some unpatriotic citizens,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo also updated the country on projects undertaken by his government to address the perennial flooding.

According to him, “government, since 2017 has spent some 450 million cedis of the flood control project which resulted in the reduced incidence of flooding, particularly in the flood-prone areas such as Odaw draining channel.”

He said phase 5 of the Accra Sanitary Sewerage and Storm Drainage Alleviation project intended to ensure the Odaw channel is free of filth and debris has been commissioned.

He noted that the construction of the 19km of drains has been completed, adding that “some 1000 km of drain has been excavated, re-channeled and maintained across the country.”

He, however acknowledged that more needs to be done to deal with the issue of flood permanently.