Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, the Deputy Minister for Local Government, has urged Municipal Chief Executives to effectively utilize their funds to mitigate the impact of recurring flooding.

The Deputy Minister conducted a working visit to assess the progress made in addressing flooding in flood-prone areas within various Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies as part of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development [GARID] project.

To assist in addressing the flooding issues and desilting drainage systems along the Odor River, the Local Government granted each assembly an amount of GHC420,000.

During the one-week tour on Wednesday, June 14, the Local Government ministry visited several assemblies in Accra, including Ayawaso North, Central East, and West Municipal Assemblies, to evaluate the work accomplished.

While expressing his dissatisfaction with the pace of work in Ayawaso Central and North, Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah commended the Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly for effectively utilizing their allocated funds.

Overall, the Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of efficient fund utilization to combat flooding and encouraged Municipal Chief Executives to prioritize these efforts to safeguard their respective areas from the impacts of floods.

“You can see here that the Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly have made a good investment with their funds. There has been an impact in the area because some of the settlements we visited were now sweeping the gutters.

“In our next meeting we will urge the assemblies to choose spots where they can be able to make a huge impact by desilting their drainage systems and ensuring hygienic living,” the deputy minister said.

A visit to some areas in the Ayawaso North where a food vendor was selling close to the gutters displeased the MCE, Aminu Ahmed Zakari who threatened to sanction the food vendor for selling in a poor hygienic condition.

Hajia Selma Adams, the MCE for Ayawaso East promised that the drainage systems within her community would be fully desilt by the end of June 2023. She said, “We have done 75% of the work, hopefully by June ending we should be done.”