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EKMA dredges storm drains
The dredger at work
The Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) in the Western Region is spending about GH¢ 62,000.00 to dredge major drains in the municipality to prevent the frequent flooding in very low lands like Kwesimintsim.
The municipality lies in the lowest lands within the region and has often experienced flooding in the rainy seasons every year.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of EKMA, Mr. Kojo Acquah told journalists that EKMA was a flood prone area and since becoming the administrative head, floods in the municipality had been his major concern.
He said many drains were constructed to stop the perennial flooding in the prone areas like Kwesimintsim, Adu and Effiakuma but the flooding persisted during the heavy rains destroying life and property.
Mr. Acquah said after feasibility studies by NADMO and the assembly engineers it was agreed that desilting the drains would allow free flow of water through the drains into the sea.
He said the assembly decided to hire a big dredger to dredge the drains because awarding a contract would take a longer time and the rains had set in already adding “if we wait for the award of contract it may be too late and we don’t want any disaster in the municipality this year.”
The Municipal NADMO Coordinator said the main objective of the dredging was to prevent any further flooding in the municipality since the water would easily flow downstream into the sea.
The Deputy Environmental Health Officer of the Municipality, Mr. George Salami also said a taskforce had been formed to go round to educate people on the best ways to dispose of solid waste.
The Assembly Member of Kwesimintsim Electoral Area, Madam Perpetua Appiah expressed her delight when the assembly came to dredge the drains.
She said the electoral area had formed watch committee to watch the drains and arrest anybody throwing waste into them for persecution.
From Peter Gbambila, Kwesimintsim, Takoradi