Perennial flooding at the Accra Academy is now a thing of the past due to the construction of the drain at Kaneshie First Light, Mr William Asun, Assistant Headmaster of the school has said.
In addition, he said, the school reclaimed a parcel of land that may be used for the construction of teachers’ bungalows and apartments.
Mr Asun said these to the Ghanaian Times in an interview yesterday during a regular monitoring visit by a team made up of officials from the World Bank and the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Waste Project (GAMA-SWP) in Accra.
The Kaneshie First Light, a flood prone area off the Winneba road was closed to traffic from March 2 to March 30, 2019, to pave way for work on the underground drain to prevent perennial flooding in the area.
It is a $7 million World Bank project under GAMA-SWP, being implemented by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in collaboration with the Department of Urban Roads.
The elated Assistant Headmaster said the project brought relief to both teachers and students during the rainy season.
Besides, Mr Asun noted that recalcitrant students who used to scale the wall could not do so as a block fence had been constructed around the school.
According to him, weed smokers and encroachers who used the school as a safe haven had been warded off.
Mr Asun thanked GAMA-SWP for supporting the school.
Mr Nelson Bethel, a businessman who operated a shop close to the drain said there was significant improvement as compared to the past.
He observed that motorists and pedestrians could now use the road during the rainy season.
At the Mallam junction where a bigger drain was constructed, a resident told the Ghanaian Times that the area does not flood anymore.
Mrs Esther Ennie, a plantain seller appealed to the Department of Urban Roads to build a traffic light at a section of the George Walker Bush Highway near the drain to ease the movement of pedestrians and passengers.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA