The claiming of water bodies and natural drainage paths in Accra with mortar and asphalt as well as the destruction of green areas in the city has turned Ghana’s capital into a disaster waiting to happen.
According to a development consultant, Dr. David Percy these development activities which are inspired by planning for the convenience of a few as opposed to taking into account everyone’s collective interest in planning the city, also has been worsened by climatic changes which have caused the rainy season to be shorter but more intense.
Dr. Percy, who was speaking last Wednesday at a Forum at the Freedom Centre, Kokomlemle on the recent flooding and fire outbreak catastrophe, said “anyone with the knowledge of Accra’s geography would not be surprised by the flooding of the city anytime it experiences a little more than average rainfall.”
Accra lies in a basin fed by water from rivers and water bodies within and outside and a number of these water bodies empty into Odawna, Dr. Percy told the audience at Wednesday Palaver, a weekly forum organized by the Socialist Forum for Ghana (SFG).
He said before Accra was turned into a concrete jungle, downpours were mostly absorbed by the water bodies and the soil especially those in Accra’s green areas.
But his changed with the capture of the state by the ruling class who were only concerned with the interests of a few and behaved as if the ordinary people did not matter.
These people, Percy pointed out, declared Accra did not need green spaces and abandoned the idea of building for workers in favour of building for themselves and their allies.
One result of this is the many ramshackle structures the poor construct to serve the dual purposes of place of accommodation and place of business, sometimes on drains, making them most vulnerable to flooding.
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