The Ga North Municipal Assembly has carried out a demolition exercise at the Ofankor Roundabout to save the flooding situation in the area as the rains set in.
The demolition exercise which was led by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon. Simons Sekyim, is also to pave the way for flood water which most at times settles in the area and cause havoc, to flow into the drains.
Over the past, residents of Ofankor have suffered greatly from the ravages of floods which led to residents making an appeal to government through the Assembly to dredge gutters and also provide an effective refuse collection system in order to avert the frequent floods that extend to their roads.
The residents also entreated the Assembly to eject retailers on the pedestrian walkways and demolish unauthorised structures to pave way for easy flow of traffic and flood.
As the rains set in, the Assembly decided to carry out the demolition exercise in order to prevent future disasters to flood.
In the early hours of Friday, May 19, 2023, the MCE Hon. Simons Sekyim led a taskforce with excavators to pull down all unauthorised buildings and structures built on waterways which are considered as blockades to the flow of water whenever it rains.
Speaking during the demolition exercise, the MCE noted that, prior notice was given to the people ahead of the exercise and that, the exercise has become vital at this time considering the level of flooding in the area.
“There have been concerns raised several times over the level of flood here. Flooding in this Municipality is doesn’t occur only at the Ofankor Roundabout, there are some metropolitan areas which have also been experiencing serious flooding after the onset of the minor rainy season,” he said.
The MCE also promised to crack the whip on Assembly staff who relinquish their duties, leading to the springing up of unauthorized structures.
“The assembly will have to blame itself because we have a taskforce that is expected to make sure that, we monitor all these activities and we have also waited for too long to act. So, after this exercise, we will have to look in-house to ensure that my taskforce is up to the game to ensure that nobody constructs on waterways,” he said.
The Assembly says it will soon embark on another demolition to pull down permanent structures built on waterways in the other areas under the Municipal Assembly.
The exercise was also supervised by the Regional Highways Engineer, Ing. Emmanuel Odoi.
