Mr Nicholas Kwabla Worclatsi, the Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South Municipality in the Volta Region, has embarked on an initiative to dredge choked gutters at Agbozume for easy flow of water to prevent potential flooding.
The move was also to help improve drainage systems, which are usually filled with sand debris and filth as well as to improve good environmental sanitation issues in the community and beyond.
Mr Worclatsi, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, lamented over the drainage systems in the area that were heavily choked, with the gutters filled with sand debris and filth from households and commercial activities.
“These debris pose a precarious risk to houses and shops along these drains, with imminent threats of flooding. The Dzanyigome stream near the Agbozume market is one of the many streams that has been affected by the environmental menace,” he said
The MCE explained that a proactive step to desilt the major drains in Agbozume was aimed at preventing overflowing water that would have possibly block the road to also flow freely in the drains to prevent any disaster that may occur in the near future.
He said that many of the gutters had been choked for over 16 years, without any effort to desilt them, but he would work with all the assembly members to make sure that the municipality was clean and safe for its residents.
“I promise to bring investors to the municipality who will drain the lagoon and start fish farming here to boost the economy, there will be bye-laws against those who throw garbage in the gutters and those who refuse to take part in communal labours.”
Mr Worclatsi also announced that a municipal sanitation day would be observed every week to make Ketu South Municipality one of the cleanest among municipalities in the region and the country as a whole to promote a clean and healthy environment for the residents.
He said the desilting exercise was expected to have a significant impact on the community to prevent flooding, reduce the risk of waterborne diseases, and improve the overall quality of life for the residents.
He urged the residents to take proactive steps and help the assembly to address the flooding challenges in the area.
The desilting exercise in Agbozume has been described by the residents as a welcome development that would have a positive impact on the community, while the commitments of the MCE to improve sanitation issues were also commended by the people.
GNA
