Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the Adenta Municipality, Humphrey Ankamah Sarpong, has identified illegal structures built around the University of Ghana's dam as the primary cause of flooding in the Nana Krom area in the municipality.
According to him, individuals have encroached upon the designated green belt area, erecting illegal buildings that obstruct the natural flow of rainfall and clog the gutters during heavy downpours.
During an interview with Radio Univers, Humphrey Ankamah Sarpong expressed his concern about the unauthorized construction activities taking place in the area. He stated, "That place used to be a green belt, but as I speak, people have built houses around almost the entire area. Even the dam that belongs to the University is being encroached upon, which poses a serious threat to the university farm and the people who are settling there illegally."
The NADMO director further explained that despite multiple efforts by the assembly to demolish illegal structures and enforce the area's green belt status, some individuals within the community continue to support and engage in these unlawful activities. He added, "When we go to the area, some of them track us until the evenings, and then they come and build. There are people within the community who are supporting these illegal activities."
Humphrey Ankamah Sarpong highlighted the limitations of relying solely on gutter construction to address the flooding issue.
He stressed that even with well-constructed gutters, the problem cannot be solved as people are now narrowing the drains by constructing buildings too close to them. Thus, it is crucial to address the root cause by curbing the encroachment on the green belt and taking measures to protect the dam and the surrounding area.
“As an Assembly, if you go there, then they will be saying that construct the gutter but the gutter no matter how you construct the gutter, the gutter cannot solve the problem alone because people are now trying to build to narrow the drain over there, so the gutter won’t solve the problem(flooding) .”
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