Accra's Flooding: Leaders & Engineers Should Not Be Driven By Emotions - Kweku Baako

Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, has asked the nation's leaders and city authorities to avoid any rush in their attempts to solve the flood situation in the country. Following the gas explosion that occurred at GOIL fuel station near GCB Towers at Circle; there have been several calls on the city authorities and the Accra Mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpuiye, to swiftly adopt measures to avert any future recurrence of the incident. A section of the Ghanaian populace have proposed that the city authorities begin demolishing structures across waterways. This therefore informed the decision by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of GA West Municipal Assembly, Mr Attorquaye Quaye to demolish a fuel station at Mile 7 in Accra. However, reacting to the issues on PeaceFM's "Kokrokoo", Kweku Baako advised the authorities to show great tact and discretion in addressing the problem. According to him, the leaders should not be driven by emotions to take any decision without having a sober reflection of their actions. “In this situation, everyone is alert. There’s so much emotion. There’s so much pain. There’s so much agony. But leaders and engineers are not driven by pain, agony and emotions. You need to reflect soberly. You need to be very careful of what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.” Mr. Baako further agreed with the citizenry that fuel stations should be demolished but was quick to add that only stations without permit or those located on waterways may face such action. “Petrol stations, if they don’t have permit, you can take them out based on law. If they’re based on waterways and we don’t have engineering solution, you can demolition them," he said. The senior journalist held the view that Accra's perennial flooding cannot be solved by the demolishing of houses or properties on water ways, and added that a more comprehensive framework must be put in place to solve the problem. "...let’s deal with the thing from the root; you cannot solve this in a year or two but once you put in the right personnel and resources even if it takes a decade it will be solved...Who said we cannot build houses on water ways? It can be done. Some countries have built on rivers”, he said.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline/Ghana