The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project says dredging of the Odaw Channel—one of the capital’s most critical flood-control interventions—is only about 40% complete, even as Accra grapples with one of its worst flooding events in recent years.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, GARID Project Coordinator, Ohene Sarfoh, said work on the channel, which stretches from Cape Rise to the Korle Lagoon, is progressing and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
“The dredging, for example, the contractor has been able to do 40 per cent or so. We are expecting him to finish the entire dredging before the end of the year,” he said.
He explained that once the initial dredging is completed, routine maintenance dredging will continue to remove sediment that accumulates in the channel over time.
Asked whether the World Bank-funded GARID Project had achieved its flood mitigation objectives, Dr Sarfoh acknowledged that the programme had not yet fully met its targets.
“No, we haven’t fully achieved that, but we are on our way to that, except that there are exacerbating circumstances that are also impeding our ability to fully attain that,” he said.
The project, which began in 2020 as a five-year initiative to improve flood risk management and solid waste management within the Odaw River Basin, has since been extended to December 31, 2027, following additional financing and implementation delays.
According to the latest World Bank implementation review, the project has so far disbursed US$127.1 million of its US$350 million financing package, representing 36.3% of total funding.
Dr Sarfoh attributed some of the delays to challenges including the temporary suspension of dredging to remove accumulated dredged material from riverbanks and difficulties securing temporary disposal sites.
He noted that the dredging contract, which commenced in February 2024, is structured as a four-year performance-based agreement, with the first year dedicated to major dredging and the remaining three years focused on maintenance.
Beyond the Odaw Channel, Dr Sarfoh said major drainage construction works are advancing across several parts of Accra.
He disclosed that drainage infrastructure has been completed from Accra Academy to South Kaneshie, linking up with an earlier completed section from Abeka Junction through Odo Road to the South Industrial Area.
The next phase, covering the Abeka Junction to Pampaso stretch, is expected to begin soon but will require extensive traffic management because construction will temporarily shut the westbound carriageway.
“We need to be careful about how we commence works and divert traffic,” he said, adding that consultations are ongoing with relevant stakeholders before construction begins.
He also said work is progressing on the eastern side of the Odaw Basin, stretching from the vicinity of the Bank of Ghana through South Kaneshie towards Apenkwa, although similar traffic challenges are anticipated.
Dr Sarfoh’s comments come after torrential rains inundated large sections of Accra, causing widespread flooding that disrupted transport, businesses and public services.
Addressing the nation on Monday, John Dramani Mahama said preliminary data showed that approximately 140 millimetres of rain fell over Accra during the storm—more than double the highest daily rainfall recorded last year.
The President attributed the flooding to unusually intense rainfall, climate change, inadequate drainage infrastructure, rapid urbanisation, construction on waterways and indiscriminate waste disposal.
GARID is Ghana’s first World Bank-funded urban resilience programme and also supports solid waste management, community upgrading projects and institutional capacity-building for 17 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies within the Odaw Basin.
In addition to dredging, flood mitigation works are underway in several flood-prone communities, including Kaneshie, Paloma-Asylum Down, Achimota, Nima, Akweteyman and Alogboshie, as authorities seek to strengthen Accra’s resilience against increasingly frequent flooding.
