The only way to deal with floods and poor planning in major cities in Ghana, is strict implementation of the laws of the land, Professor Seth Opuni Asiamah, former Provost, College of Architecture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said.

According to him, if the laws on sanitation are not implemented strictly, people will continue to act in ways that will always result in floods.

Prof Asiamah told Chief Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5FM on Thursday, 21 June that: “There are a lot of factors that have led to this development. There are good laws in this country because those laws are not being implemented; people build without seeking permit from the Town and Country Planning Department.

“If we don’t implement the laws, we will always have this problem recurring,” he said.

Prof Asiamah’s comments follow Monday’s heavy downpour that killed at least nine people. The deaths were recorded in Greater Accra, Central and Volta regions.

In Accra, 32-year-old Dr Aya Hayfron got swept away by the floods and eventually lost her life. Her body was retrieved on Wednesday.

In the Volta region, a grandmother and her two grandchildren were electrocuted in the floods.

In Prof Asiamah’s view, illegal structures, especially those located on waterways, must be pulled down.