Government has given a predictable response to the ongoing freak show of floods around the country, throwing money at the problem as usual.
Cabinet has approved US$200million for the purpose of fighting the perennial problem which is largely the consequence of poor planning and indiscipline.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, announced the reactionary package today at a press conference he addressed at his Ministry in Accra.
According to him, an inter-ministerial committee comprising four Ministries has been set up to apply the cash.
“The Works and Housing Ministry is Chairing the Inter-Ministerial Committee on this – Sanitation and Water Resources, Zongo Development and Local Government.
“Now among their respective roles, the Works and Housing MKinistry is using its share of the fund to handle drainage of key water outlets including the Odaw river that has been spoken about, while the Sanitation Ministry will be responsible for the construction of Transfer Stations and a new landfill site in the Greater Accra region,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said.
According to him, “the project is also expected to improve flood risk management and solid waste management around the Odaw basin in the Greater Accra region and improve access to basic infrastructure services in the targeted community in the targeted communities in the basin.
The Information Minister said indiscriminate dumping of solid waste will also be targeted.
The committee appears to be a knee-jerk response to a wave of floods that have hit the country this month, by which many Ghanaians have lost their lives. This is not the first time government has thrown money at the problem of floods. In the past, there have been huge projects including flood management programs for Accra which have ended up a leap to nowhere.