A 64-year-old resident of Koforidua Zongo, Hajia Nafisah Abdulai, has had her nightmare evoked by the onset of the torrential rains in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region.
She and her aged mother with other members of their nuclear family endure scooping water from their rooms each day it rains.
Hajia Nafisah Abdulai has been living in her husband’s compound for years until unplanned development and choked gutters caused her home to flood anytime it rains.
It’s been raining heavily for hours a few days into the month of June, and her home has flooded countless times already.
Cost of rent and housing deficit in Koforidua coupled with unreliable income does not give her the luxury to leave her home and rent a new place. She and her husband built the house through hardwork and have lived in it for over decades.
She and the family have a right to shelter and affordable housing.
A heavy rainfall three years ago took several of her belongings and that of other tenants who use to rent part of their household away.
All the tenants have left due to the flooding situation, ridding her of another source of income.
Hajia Nafisah Abdulai lamented a recent wall by a private developer for car washing business has worsened drainage challenges and resulted in the flooding of her home.
I had to cautiously step on five cement blocks placed separately apart in the flood to enable me get access to her compound and see for myself her situation.
From Thursday, June 3, 2021 to Saturday, June 5, 2021 and Monday, June 7, 2021, the rains fell and lasted over two hours each of those days.
Scores of residents have also been displaced as well. Affected areas of the flood are Alhaji Issah contractor, Achiguda, Malam Fari, Musco and Alaafia.
Hajia Nafisah abdulai wants the Municipal Chief Executive of the New Juaben South Municipal Assembly, Isaac Appau Gyasi, to order the private developer to break the walls constructed to ensure free flow of drains and allow her enjoy her right to shelter.
The United Nation identifies adequate housing as a fundamental human right, defining it as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity.
MCE Isaac Appau-Gyasi, when contacted, explained that the Assembly intends to secure funding to reconstruct the drainage system in the area as a long-term measure.
He, however, asked residents to be responsible and avoid throwing rubbish and other wastes into drains.
“Part of the problem is that residents throw waste Into drains and gutters, blocking free flow,” he said “but we are committed to resolve the flooding issue.”
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) Director, Kwame Appiah Kodua, said assessment was ongoing on affected areas to inform his outfit of the next line of action as the rains have set in.
By Yvonne Neequaye|3news.com|Ghana