STORM DRAINAGE TO REDUCE FLOODING IN TAKORADI (PAGE 29)

ANNUAL flooding has become the bane of many residents in some of the suburbs of Takoradi.
Every year, these residents suffer serious flooding after long hours of downpour.
Besides, the rains stagnate somewhere with their attendant water-borne diseases, thus exposing the poor nature of the entire drainage system in Takoradi and its environs.
Two consecutive days of long hours of torrential rainfall at the weekend virtually cut off some areas in Takoradi, since many people could not cross flooded areas .
The most affected areas were Essikafoabantem No. 2, Takoradi Central Market (Market Circle), a stretch of the Liberation Road, the PWD Quarters, among others.
This could be attributed to the narrow nature of the drainage system compared with the fast rate at which Takoradi is growing, as well as the absence of a storm drainage system to carry the large volumes of water into the sea after a heavy down pour.
To get rid of this annual ritual of flooding in the city, the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly has started construction of a storm drainage project to improve the drainage system and also to minimise periodic flooding in critical flood-prone areas in the metropolis.
But as a coincidence, the sod-cutting ceremony which was performed last week Friday for work to begin was also followed by a torrential rainfall in the evening, rendering most areas to be flooded again.
The project, being executed by Messrs China Zhong Hao Ghana Limited, a construction firm, is a component of the second Urban Environmental Sanitation Project (UESP11).
It is being funded by the World Bank at the contract sum of over GH¢3.1million, and it is to be executed within 18 months.
The project includes the improvement of 1,800 metres of the Kokompe –Adakope drain, 1,020 metres of the Ashanti Road-Adakope drain, 600 metres of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL)-Maersk drain and the 550 metres of the West Tanokrom main stream drain, including the construction of culverts.
Others are the reinforced concrete lining of 165 metres of the West Tanokrom tributary drain; lining of 500 metres of sections of the Kansaworodo-Effia drain, as well as construction of culverts on the Effia Nkwanta Hospital branch drain.
Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony, the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, described the project as very important, since it would be a major outlet for water to flow into the sea.
“If we do not do these drains, all our efforts will be in vain,” he said, adding that “this will help the flow of water to stop flooding”.