AMA Curse Hits Hard; More Casualties Recorded After Flood

It�s been a perilous curse like what is known in American political parlance as the �Kennedy Curse� which has always been there waiting to be activated anytime on the Kennedy line; and such is the flood curse which activation is fuelled by rain or downpour in the city. The devastation it brings in its wake is always felt hard by residents of the capital city. And the about four- hour downpour in the city last Tuesday was no exception. Accra again rose to yet another curse which origin had always been attributed to the lukewarm attitude of officialdom of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA). Its suburbs of Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Sukura, Asylum Down, Dansoman, Makola, Kaneshie, Bubuashie, Agege, were the most hit areas, recording in the process the worst casualties including loss of properties worth millions of Ghana cedis. The about 4 hours heavy downpour indeed made life very unbearable for the city dwellers with people struggling to find places to relocate as they looked on helplessly while their houses were completely destroyed. This paper�s report of Wednesday, August 27, 2014 on the experiences of such people right after the downpour was just a perfect reflection of the happenings in the congested capital city with its residents who could not comprehend the happenings wagging their tongues on city authorities ostensibly, the AMA for poor planning of the city. AMA boss, Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije�s name dominated in public discourse as people argued that the city was not ready to be the Millennium City he has been championing. The damage left by the rains, a day after, showed how clueless planners of the city are about the problems of the city. Thus, it was no news when victims of the floods blamed their predicament on the inefficiency of the AMA authorities. �We are tired of politicians in the country since all that they know is to lie to us for our votes and when they get them, they don�t care again about our welfare,� a trader at Agbogbloshie Market who gave her name as Yaa Adoma, said. At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Agege, James Town and Bubuashie, residents who were doing everything in their power to come to terms with the damage caused by the floods had only one message to the authorities. �Resign if you can�t get the right antidote to our problems�.� Some members of Truck Spare Parts Dealers at the Circle Neoplan Station bemoaned the spate at which floods were destroying their wares. According to them, they constructed a drain from their catchment to join the Odaw drains but their efforts were impeded by huge refuse that had choked the gutters. It was a double agony for one Fati, a porridge seller, who had had her millet for the preparation of the local breakfast meal soaked by the rushing waters and also had some of her belongings damaged beyond use. She and the other victims did not have to lament about apart from calling on the government led by President John Dramani Mahama to act like kings since they have been made kings. To them, they would not take anything apart from solutions to the perennial flooding which year in and year out is making their stay in the capital uncomfortable.