Gov’t committed to strengthening flood mitigation measures
Government remains committed to strengthening measures to mitigate the impact of floods.
In that vein, a National Security Council meeting was organised on Wednesday to discuss the recent disaster that affected seven regions of the country.
President Mahama chaired the meeting, which received briefings from the Post-Flood Mitigation Task Force and its subcommittees on measures taken so far, as Government reviewed existing interventions and assessed what additional steps were needed going forward.
He disclosed that the Minister of Finance had released funds from the contingency fund to support the mitigation measures to be undertaken going forward, in addition to directing the Ghana Armed Forces to get involved in the effort.
He said NADMO and other relevant agencies remained actively engaged in providing relief and distributing assistance to affected communities.
President Mahama said a task force had already been established prior to the floods to undertake preventive measures, including limited dredging of waterways.
“The task force carried out some limited dredging of waterways, but the volume of rainfall experienced during this period was beyond what could be contained,” he said, adding that this had informed the decision to review and strengthen the measures in place.
He attributed the scale of the disaster partly to increasingly heavy rainfall patterns linked to climate change, and partly to rapid urbanisation in Accra, which he said had led to encroachment on areas reserved for the passage and containment of water.
“Increasingly, we are witnessing heavier rainfall patterns every year, and this requires us to review and strengthen the mitigation measures we put in place to address the situation,” he said.
President Mahama said that while flooding could not be completely eliminated as a natural disaster experienced in many parts of the world, Government was committed to taking steps to reduce its impact.
“We can take steps to reduce its impact and prevent it from becoming as devastating as what we have witnessed,” he said.
He noted that other countries, from Gabon to Côte d’Ivoire, had also experienced flooding and loss of lives during the same period, with some recording even higher levels of impact, and expressed hope that through collective effort, the difficulties faced by affected communities would ease.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
