The Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly has commenced the process of dredging the Sango Lagoon at Teshie in Accra, and they anticipate the project to span over a duration of three months. The primary objective of this endeavor is to eliminate accumulated sediment, garbage, and vegetation from the lagoon, thereby aiming to reinstate its previous depth and overall capacity.
Speaking to journalists, Assembly Chief Executive Mordecai Quarshie stated that the initiative will also help fisherfolk in the area, which is flood-prone and low-lying.
He explained that the contract was awarded to Blessed Field.
“We broke ground for the dredging of the Sango Lagoon because it has not been dredged in a long time, and nobody around seems to remember the last time it was dredged. But it is important for it to be dredged to reinforce our flood prevention measures. We have dredged the entire length of the Sango stream and now at the lagoon, and we are restoring the boundaries of the lagoon to let it hold rain waters. But there is also another reason, which is to enable the fisherfolk to anchor their canoes,” Quarshie said.
The Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly in Accra has initiated a dredging project at the Sango Lagoon in Teshie.
Over the course of three months, the project aims to remove accumulated sediment, debris, and vegetation from the lagoon, thereby restoring its original depth and capacity.
Chief Executive of the Assembly, Mordecai Quarshie, highlighted that the project will not only improve the lagoon’s condition but also alleviate the challenges faced by fisherfolk in the area given its susceptibility to flooding.
“We broke ground for the dredging of the Sango Lagoon because it has not been dredged in a long time, and nobody around seems to remember the last time it was dredged. But it is important for it to be dredged to reinforce our flood prevention measures,” he said.
“We have dredged the entire length of the Sango stream and now at the lagoon, and we are restoring the boundaries of the lagoon to let it hold rain waters. But there is also another reason, which is to enable the fisherfolk to anchor their canoes,” Mr Quarshie added.
The MCE added that the contractor on the project is Blessed Field and it is expected to be completed in the next three months.
Ahead of the raining season, the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly has been directed by the Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, to immediately take steps to halt ongoing building construction works by some private developers on the Kpeshie Lagoon Wetlands in Teshie, a suburb of Accra.
This came to light when the Minister, accompanied by officials of the Ministry, the Hydrological Services Authority and some Municipal Assemblies within the Greater Accra region, embarked on a working visit to inspect progress of ongoing drainage works in selected flood prone areas in the city, and also to assess the readiness of the completed drainage infrastructure ahead of the rainy season.
The Kpeshie Lagoon Wetlands, the Kordjor River, all in the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly, as well as the La Dade-Kotopong where parts of the buffer is, have been built on by many private developers, including Messrs RA CONGLOMERATE, operating without the appropriate building permits, and eventually filling the reserved buffer, which is meant to hold excess volumes of water flow during heavy rains.
In recent times, several illegal structures comprising of residential buildings as well as heavy encroachment by developers in some notable wetlands have conspired to thwart the investments of Government in its efforts to provide drainage infrastructure across the country.
Orders of the President
This unfortunate development caused President Akufo-Addo to issue directives to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to pull down structures that are illegally sited on waterways and in wetlands.
He has therefore called on the Assemblies under whose jurisdictions the illegal constructions are taking place, to take the necessary step to comply with the directives of the President and demolish structures that have been erected within wetlands or in waterways, and thereby, further exposing the city to the devastating effects of perennial flooding.
The sector Minister expressed shock at the rate at which the Kpeshie Lagoon Wetlands and its buffer reserve areas are blatantly being filled with construction materials by private developers.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye reminded the Assemblies of the directives of the President to pull down structures that are illegally cited within or on the way of wetlands or waterways that have the tendency to contribute the perennial flooding in the country.
“It is unfortunate that despite the heavy investment in drainage infrastructure over the years, irresponsible behavior of private developers continue to expose the city, especially in areas, which hitherto, were not noted for flooding”. The Minister stated.
The sector Minister said the power to embark on a demolition of the illegal structures lies within the Assemblies and therefore called on them to act swiftly to avert flood related disasters with the onset of the rainy season.
Commenting on the need to demolish structures built on waterways and in wetlands, the MCE for the La Dade-Kotopon where the Kpeshie Lagoon buffer is, Mr Solomon Kotey Nikoi said, “the Assembly’s efforts to stop the building of illegal structures have become a challenge that need the urgent intervention of its supervising Ministry. Efforts to stop, demolish, and arrest culprits have been met with assaults by landguards and death threats.”
He suggested that Government constitutes a national taskforce to deal with the menace of encroachment in wetlands.
On the security challenge, the Works and Housing Minister assured of his readiness to engage his senior colleague at the Local Government Ministry to solicit the support of security authorities to deal with private developers who are bent on thwarting the efforts of government with blatant disregard for the laws, towards the flooding menace.
In comparison to the GH1.37 million aim set for the previous year, the assembly has, as of August 2022, achieved 63.61 percent of its GH2.4 million goal.
Mordecai Quarshie, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the LeKMA, informed the Daily Graphic that this was the case and refuted claims that the assembly could not achieve the year’s too ambitious revenue objective.
He revealed that the assembly had raised GH¢1.37million for the first eight months of the year, and expressed the hope that their target for 2022 would be met, if not exceeded.
Aside from the efforts that were made to meet the revenue target, Mr Quarshie said the assembly had also discharged it financial obligations towards assembly members in the municipality.
The MCE said the assembly had held regular meetings to deliberate on issues affecting the assembly.
“I can confidently say that we do not owe our assembly members any payments or allocation,” he said.
Some property owners in the Ledzokuku Municipality would have to find alternative accommodation as the Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly (LEKMA), prepares to pull down their buildings.
The properties, numbering over 700 have been earmarked for demolition with notices served to the owners.
Mr Mordecai Quarshie, the Municipal Chief Executive of LEKMA who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency said the houses, most of which have been built in water ways do not have permits.
He said following recent floods in the municipality, and a directive from the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to demolish structures built in water ways, the Assembly had been left with no choice than to carry out the exercise.
He disclosed that 320 of the houses were situated along the basins of the Sango Lagoon, with the remaining ones around the Kor River and other places within the municipality.
Mr Quarshie who indicated that the exercise had become necessary to avert future floods as well as the loss of lives said, as much as possible, the Assembly would put a human touch to the exercise.
“We are not happy undertaking such exercises but it has become necessary evil that we cannot shelve,” he said.
The MCE said the Assembly would not back down in its mandate to ensure that physical developments in the municipality are done within the confines of the law.
He further appealed to prospective property owners to run a check with the Assembly when buying land and also acquire a building permit before proceeding with any form of development.
He also mentioned that the Assembly would conduct an investigation into claims of negligence by its staff whose responsibilities were to ensure that the buildings earmarked for demolition should not have come up in the first place.
“We will investigate their conduct and recommend punitive actions against any official found culpable,” he said.
The Assembly in carrying out the directives of the president as well as its mandate had in the last couple of weeks pulled down hundreds of properties and illegal structures within the municipality.
Mr Quarshie said, the owners of these properties would be surcharged for the exercise.
