A Parliamentary Committee has praised Dredge Masters Limited for its ongoing efforts to reduce flooding in Accra through extensive dredging works in the Odaw River and Korle Lagoon, while warning city authorities to urgently act against illegal encroachers.
During a site inspection on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Chair of the Works and Housing Committee, Hon. Vincent Asamoah Oppong, lauded the progress made by the company, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group. He called for swift and proactive interventions by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and other local governments as the rainy season approaches.
“So far, you are doing a very good job and we are impressed,” Hon. Asamoah said, while urging MMDCEs and the Mayor of Accra to intensify flood control and sanitation measures.
The Committee stressed that unchecked encroachment and poor waste disposal could undermine the benefits of the dredging work. Members noted that some individuals had received compensation to vacate lands near the waterways but had refused to leave.
Committee member and MP for Techiman South, Mr. Martin Kwaku Adjei-Mensah Korsah, decried construction in flood-prone areas, calling it a threat to human life and public resources. “We must begin to prioritise human life over illegal construction,” he said.
Dredge Masters’ Deputy MD, Ing. Samuel Borquaye, explained that the maintenance dredging began at Caprice and had reached Circle, with plans to continue toward the Korle Lagoon. He warned that residents’ indiscriminate dumping of waste continues to hamper progress.
“We need to change our attitudes when it comes to waste disposal,” he said, envisioning a future where the cleaned-up areas could serve as attractive tourism sites.
The Committee urged the swift evacuation of dredged silt temporarily placed along canal banks to prevent it from re-entering the waterways.
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