The Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana has warned that the newly constructed Kwame Nkrumah Interchange will soon cause damage to the road and also cause accidents if flooding on the road is not rectified.
Last Sunday's heavy downpour left the Odaw river overflowing its banks. Parts of the Las Palmas restaurant were partially submerged in water whilst the road linking the Ring Road West towards Ako Adjei interchange was also flooded.
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The heavy rains affected areas such as Asylum Down, Avenor and Alajo.
The President of the Association Martins Nnuro speaking to Accra-based Kasapa FM said, "This situation if not rectified will soon cause damage to the road and also cause accidents. Vehicles that ply the road when it’s flooded could also have their parts destroyed."
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"When such major roads are being constructed, the site Engineer does an assessment of the volume of water that collects at the catchement area of the road so that drainages will be designed to contain the water when it rains, I don’t know the sort of assessment that was done prior to the construction of the interchange," Martin Nnuro added.
However, Minister of Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, has said it will cost Ghana over $700 million to effectively and permanently deal with the perennial flooding in the Greater Accra Region alone.
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Mr. Atta Akyea said the focus of the government is to find the funds to address the perennial flooding in the city.
"My only new approach will be finding money. The engineering sense won’t change. We are not going to reinvent the wheel. The engineers have put together the solution. All we need to do as a solution is to get the cash. If you have the money, the engineers will just roll out the plans and they will start working and you won’t see this again."