Following the three-day anti-flood clean-up operation launched by Zoomlion Ghana Limited and its partners, Dredge Masters Limited on Thursday, June 11 deployed specialised equipment to dredge and desilt critical drains in Weija, Mempeasem (near UPSA), and other parts of the Greater Accra Region.
Despite heavy silt and solid waste that had cut capacity in major storm drains across Accra, worsening flood risks, the joint anti-flood exercise was now targeting key flashpoints before the next rains.
The exercise is a partnership between Zoomlion Ghana Limited, NADMO, FeDems Limited, Dredge Masters Ghana Limited, Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and MMDAs in Greater Accra.
In an interview, the Operations Manager of Dredge Masters Ghana Limited, Sena Adiepena, said the channels have lost capacity due to lack of maintenance.
“This UPSA storm drain is expected to be carrying a lot of flood waters downstream towards the outfall, ultimately into the sea. But it hasn’t been maintained for a while now and has lost capacity. You can see lots of solid waste,” Mr. Adiepena said.
He explained that Dredge Masters was called in based on its experience in dredging water bodies nationwide.
“We found it important as our responsibility to also give back to the nation and work with NADMO, especially to identify these very key areas and then mobilise specialised equipment to allow us to dredge and create access for flow of water.”
With more rains forecast, the team is racing to clear selected drains to prevent repeat flooding.
“We know that floods have occurred in the past few days and weeks, and the rains haven’t stopped. More is expected. So we are positioning ourselves to ensure that once we cater for some of these selected drains which are flashpoint areas, we will be able to ensure that we don’t have flooding in the same areas again,” he said.
He added that the team will extend the exercise to other areas.
“We are also at Weija, at the Kasoa toll booth. We’ll be heading to Sakumono, Teshie and other places NADMO considers very critical to controlling the floods.”
But the work faces a major obstacle: encroachment. Buffer zones meant for equipment access have been taken over by private structures.
“We are faced with very key challenges. During our assessment prior to deployment, we realised that the buffers that are supposed to allow for passage and equipment access in order to easily maintain these drains are not accessible because of encroachment. A lot of private properties have been built into these access ways, so it makes it quite difficult to effectively dredge,” Adiepena stated.
He called for long-term collaboration to reclaim access.
“Ultimately, we would have to find a way of manoeuvring around it. Long term, we would have to work together with the authorities to see how we can probably demolish some of them or speak to their owners to allow for these spaces to be available for maintenance of the drain because it is very key.”
Mr. Adiepena stressed that continuous maintenance is the only way to avoid “firefighting mode”.
“The proactive measure in ensuring that these drains don’t flood is to allow for continuous maintenance. That way we will not have to wait for the flood to happen before we come to the ground. We are always ready. We are well equipped, well resourced.”
He noted that the sites were selected with NADMO and MMDAs based on recent flood reports.
“We’ve had in the past few days the news about flooding in a number of areas. We are working closely with the several district and municipal assemblies and more especially NADMO because they normally respond to the distress calls. Beyond the response, they also have the ability to identify some of these flashpoints and the nuances that are causing these flooding.”
Dredge Masters is expected to cover about two kilometres of the drain at Mepeasem near UPSA, but bottlenecks remain.
“We are looking at achieving that stretch but there are a lot of bottlenecks and structures in the way that are making the work difficult. But we are still working with authorities to see how best we can deliver on our mandate, which is to dredge and ensure that there’s free flow.”
Mr Adiepena confirmed the exercise is being funded by Zoomlion and partners.
“This was done out of the benevolence of Zoomlion. This is at no cost to the State or the Assembly and we are supporting.”
The three-day dredging and clean-up exercise targets flood-prone areas including Madina, Roman Ridge, Mallam, Paloma, Circle, Kaneshie, and GBC.
The NADMO Greater Accra Regional Director, Dennis Nartey, and Zoomlion’s Chief Corporate Communications, Officer Sophia Kudjordji, have warned that most flood damage is man-made, caused by waste blocking drains, and urged residents to embrace responsible waste disposal under the “No Do No Do” campaign.