We are entering the rainy season, and we envisage heavy rains this year with the concomitant flooding in many parts of the country that comes as an annual ritual.
During heavy rains, as recorded every year, the Ghana Water Limited (GWL) is compelled to open spillways at its treatment plant at Weija, to allow excess water from the Weija Dam to flow into the sea.
This often results in flooding in the downstream communities of Tetegu, New Weija, Tattop, Oblogo and Sampa Vallley.
The unavoidable spillage of the dam often leads to flooding on the Weija Bridge at Tetegu, making the bridge that connects Accra to Kasoa in the Central Region as well as to the Western Region and neighbouring Cote d’Iviore virtually impassable, and render commuters stranded.
We recall that two years ago, the area was heavily-flooded, compelling people who have their houses around the area to sleep in their vehicles, until the floodwaters receded, because they could not cross the bridge to their various homes.
As you see on our front page today, the Weija tributary that serves as the canal for excess water from the Weija Dam to flow into the sea is covered with weeds.
The effect is that excess water spilled from the Weija Dam cannot have smooth passage into the sea, and the consequence is that the whole downstream communities are likely to experience floods of heavy magnitude.
Another effect of the tributary being overgrown with weeds is that it results in loss of livelihoods as people who depend on the stream for fishing can no longer go fishing!
A stich in time saves nine and so, as an early warning signal, the Ghanaian Times is appealing to the authorities to move in and clear the weeds from the river bed, and desilt the stream to allow unfettered flow of water from the upstream into the sea, to save communities in the downstream from loss of lives and properties.
It is very prudent to quickly move in to tackle this problem at Weija, rather than to wait for the worst to happen, expecting the poorly-resourced National Disaster Management Organisation to come to the rescue of distressed residents when the damage, which could have been avoided, has already occurred.
This situation borders on human security; we, therefore, urge the Ministry of Work and Housing, the National Security and other relevant agencies to undertake a quick-fix of the problem of weeds taking over the Weija Dam spillway, to avoid any disaster in the event of heavy rains, with attendant spillage of the Weija Dam.
We are aware that the Ministry of Works and Housing had been proactively spearheading the dredging of drains and waterways ahead of the rainy season, as part of broader measures to prevent and control floods in flood-prone areas.
We applaud them for the initiative and we express the hope that they would pay attention to Weija area.
We also urge the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly to enforce the bye-laws by avoiding giving building permits to people to build close to the stream, and other waterways to reduce the perennial floods and loss of lives and properties in the municipality.