Forty-one houses within Lafa stream basin to be
demolished
Accra, June 25, GNA – The Deputy Minister for Water
Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Bissiw, on Thursday
said about 41 houses and structures within the Lafa stream
basin would have to be demolished to alleviate the flooding
situation in that area.
She said such a measure would allow the free flow of run-off
from upstream to the outfall and also to enable the drain to
be fully desilted and constructed properly.
Dr Bissiw was responding to a question on the floor of the
House by Mr Justice Joe Appiah, MP for Ablekuma North, who
wanted to know when the Lafa River would be desilted to
prevent the perennial problem of flooding whenever it rains.
The Minister said the removal of the structures in the
waterway would enable the Hydrological Service Department of
the ministry to carry out full designs and costing of the
entire works to be carried out in the Lafa catchments area
for further action.
The Lafa stream flows through Mallam Kokoroko, Awoshie,
Santa Maria and the race course area and stretches over 11
kilometres, Dr Bissiw said.
She said the natural alignment of the Lafa drain has been
seriously encroached upon and except for the area downstream
beyond the motorway crossing at Mallam where channel
improvement or construction of the drain could be carried
out without any restrictions.
The Minister said houses have been built either in the
drain’s right of way or very close to it at several places
upstream.
Mr Stephen Yakubu, MP for Binduri, also asked the Minister
what steps are being taken to resolve the water problems in
the Binduri Constituency, particularly the number of
boreholes to be provided this year as well as when the
Binduri Water System would be completed.
In her response, Dr Bissiw said a government priority
project was currently ongoing, under which five boreholes
are slated to be drilled in five communities in each
district of the country.
She said the Tansia community in the Binduri Constituency is
a beneficiary of the project and that the consultant and
drilling contractor have been engaged by the Bawku Municipal
Assembly under the auspices of the Community Water and
Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to select sites and effect
drilling.
“The works are scheduled for completion by the close of this
drilling season in the Northern part of the country in
December 2009.”
On the water supply system, she said the CWSA has evaluated
the current status of the system and it is estimated to cost
GH¢150,000 to rehabilitate it to enable Binduri to enjoy
uninterrupted water supply.
Dr Bissiw mentioned the drilling of an additional borehole
to augment the existing source of water, connecting the
system to the national grid, laying a new transmission line
and constructing a new pump house and also expanding the
existing distribution network as some of the works to be
undertaken to reactivate the water system.
GNA
