Residents at Lakeside in the Adentan Municipality have blamed the engineers who constructed the East Legon Hills road for diverting all drains to one outlet, which caused heavy floods yesterday, May 18.

The flood reportedly claimed three lives and caused major damage to homes, shops, and personal property.

Residents say the drainage system was poorly designed, with multiple water channels diverted into a single outlet, an issue they believe led to the deadly overflow.

Speaking to JoyNews, resident and business owner Prince Ansah pointed fingers at the road contractors.

“To the best of my knowledge, I believe the problem lies with the contractor who worked on the road. In Ghana, whenever it rains, the situation becomes very bad and here, we suffer a lot. I think the contractor should have built the gutter deeper and covered it properly to prevent people from dumping rubbish in it. It’s the rubbish blocking the gutters that’s causing the flooding,” he said.

He added that the construction was poorly done and left unfinished.

“The gutter was built only up to a certain point where it should have been extended, but it was abandoned halfway. The volume of water flowing in this direction is heavy, and because the drainage was left incomplete, the water gets blocked and flows back, leading to flooding.”

Prince also shared the personal impact of the flooding.

“The water damaged my car because of the blocked drainage. It’s impossible to drive through the flooded roads. The contractors are not helping us at all; they know what needs to be done, but they carry out the work carelessly.”

Another resident, Alex Narh, expressed frustration over the drainage plan and called for government intervention.

“What’s causing all these problems is the construction of a main drain from Katamanso, Nkansah Hospital, to this area, with all the smaller drains redirected here. Now, all the water from upstream flows down into this community. On top of that, some residents are putting up buildings on natural water paths, blocking the flow even more,” he said.

He urged government officials to inspect the area and ensure better planning in future projects.

“If the government is coming to inspect, they should look closely at where the road leads and the placement of the gutters. And when construction is being done, they must ensure the placement of gutters does not put residents at risk. The rain that fell from Oyarifa, the mountains, and Katamanso all ended up here.”

He ended with an appeal.

“This situation has brought serious problems. Lives have been lost, and our properties have been destroyed. It’s now up to the government to step in and address these issues. They should hold the engineers accountable and assess whether the location of the gutter is appropriate. When construction is ongoing, officials must come on site, inspect the work, and make sure it’s being done properly."

Read also: 3 confirmed dead in Adentan flood, MCE blames construction on waterways