There is no doubt that the rains have started and I shudder to admit that once again, lives and property will be lost in this season like the previous ones. It tells us how petty we had been as a nation and how quick we are to forget or even recall how the last season brought much grief, tears and losses to many citizens especially those living in flood prone areas.
Last year, the rains washed away many feeder roads and many other access routes in and around Accra. Moves were made to restore the damaged roads even before the onset of the rains. These moves were however hampered by the delays in the approval and implementation of the Road Fund Levy Amendments.
Readers will recall that road and bridge tolls were increased a few months back and these monies were meant to rehabilitate and to maintain some roads and streetlights in and around the capital.
I must admit that there are visible signs that these promises are being redeemed. In fact, the fast progress being recorded on the Tetteh Quashie-Spintex Road, the new Street lights being set up all over the city, the gravelling of some roads in and around many environs in Accra, Tema and many other places around the country, the improvement in the street light system among others offer some hope that sooner these problems would be a thing of the past while Ghana invests more in infrastructure do make up for the huge deficit.
Two projects that would suffer the brunt of the devastation of the rains are the abandoned Teshie-Nungua-La road Project and the Achimota-Ofankor road that is progressing at snail pace due to non-availability of funds.
Conversely, a project that is progressing rather steadily is the Millennium Development Authority’s sponsored Tetteh Quashie-Mallan Highway project which I earlier suggested muts be named after Ex-President Kufuor or Jerry Rawlings and the Obasanjo Road renamed after Ex-President Dr. Hilla Liman. I believe that the availability of funds for the latter and the difficulty in sourcing funds to either continue or complete the former ones mentioned might be responsible for the negative trend.
I pray that government find partners who would support Ghana fund these and many other projects dotted around the country that are yet to be complete.
The last decongestion and demolition exercises suffered some hitches as many property owners either sought court injunctions or other court papers to stop the exercises. Until these cases are determined, the Ministry of Works and Housing, The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the state can only stand aside and look.
NADMO will be out there doing what they have specialized in for many years now; distributing food, mattresses and blankets to flood victims among others while the initiatives that needed to be taken to at least reduce the effects of these avoidable disasters still remain a mirage.
I only pray that the farmlands are spared the harsh pelts of the rain and the floods as this would visit huge losses to farmers many of whom are rural dwellers. Food security and the bumper harvest we anticipate might be heavily affected with its direct effects on our economy and inflation.
On the brighter side, the rains would bring much water to the thirsty Akosombo dam, and into our rivers and lakes to boast the output of fishermen.
The rains are also needed to support our rain-fed agriculture, a trend we have lived with and practised since the days of Kwame Nkrumah. Perhaps the rehabilitation of the irrigation dams in Northern Ghana and the importation of the 1000 tractors would help increase food production in as much as the rains remain stable and do not fail us.
As to the numerous court actions against the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and her agents, until the cases are determined, we cannot blame them for doing little or nothing to curb the perennial chaos, grief and destruction that comes with the floods.
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