Delayed Of Flood Control Drain Project In Accra Santa Maria Last Stop Sparked Anger As Residents Call For Termination Of Project From Sildaco Company
The persistence delay in the construction of the flood control drain project on the River Lafa in the Santa Maria Last Stop area of the Ga Central Municipality in the Greater Accra Region has sparked anger among the residents of the area.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater 
The persistent delay in the construction of the flood control drain project on the River Lafa in the Santa Maria Last Stop area of the Ga Central Municipality in the Greater Accra Region has sparked anger among the residents of the area.
The residents stated that the flood control drain project started in February 2021 has stalled and become conduits for flooding in the area.
According to the residents, the completion of the project by Sildaco Construction Company working on the project was long overdue.
In this regard, the residents called on the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to, immediately impress upon the Department of Urban Roads which is in charge of the project to terminate the contractual agreement between the Sildaco Company and the government of Ghana (GoG).
They complained that the project has started about one -year-and-two months now and accused the Sildaco Company of deliberately delaying the project for reasons being known to the company.
When completed, the flood control project is expected to tackle flooding as well as enhance the daily activities of residents who are currently facing difficulties in commuting from one place to another.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, June 27, 2022, the Assembly Member of Santa Maria Electoral Area in Accra, Nana Kwesi Boandwoh expressed worry over the delay of the project, saying that his check has revealed that the company has taken more projects that were the reason it does have time to come to the site to complete the drain project on time.
“My brother I would like to make it clear to you that l am not happy about the delay in the project. So l can tell you that l am in support of the call of the residents on the government to terminate the contractor of the company and give it to another contractor to speed up the work on the project," Nana Kwesi Boandwoh stressed.
Mr. Boandwoh assured his outfit’s unflinching support to the people in the area, saying that contingency measures would be put in place to get the new contractor to complete the project to avert further calamities.
“Since the contractor has failed or refused to heed calls to speed up work on the construction of the flood control project along the river Lafa, there is nothing we can do but to throw our hands in despair and pray to God for protection,” the residents lamented.
A visit by Soireenews.com to the scene points to a time bomb staring in the face of residents in the area if contingency steps are not taken to complete the project before the start of the heavy raining season.
This online news portal also noticed that the surroundings of the Lafa River, known to be heavily flood-prone, were strikingly unkempt with the main drain filled with solid and plastic waste.
“We are in raining season, but it seems the central government and city authorities are waiting to be overwhelmed by the floods before they begin to take action,” the residents complained.
Residents also lamented to this reporter that the situation gets utterly bad and unusable anytime there is a heavy downpour and have thus appealed to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to find a lasting solution to the problem before the worst happens.
Livid youth in the area hinted to this reporter that they are planning to stage a massive demonstration to express their dissatisfaction with the said high personalities for delaying the bridge project.
However, numerous efforts to contact the contractor to get her side of the story proved futile.
