Accra: Female traders in the Accra Central Business District have called for flood resistant market infrastructure to reduce financial losses and flood related injuries and deaths. They said they needed elevated stalls and improved drainage systems to curtail the loss of income, livelihoods and inability to access their stalls.
According to Ghana News Agency, Ms. Gifty Okyere, a thrift clothing hawker, highlighted the deteriorating drainage system in the capital, which worsens during rains and leads to flooding. The Accra Metropolitan area, one of the 29 administrative units of the Greater Accra Region, is the most populous region in Ghana with over five million residents, according to the 2021 Housing and Population Census. The city suffers damage from flooding every year due to poor and uncoordinated land use and planning. The Physical Planning Department and other regulatory agencies are not adequately equipped to enforce relevant land use regulations effectively.
The region lacks green infrastructure like rain harvesting systems, street trees, and rain gardens, which are environmentally sustainable and cost-effective approaches to manage flooding. Ms. Okyere expressed concern over women being stranded during floods, often unable to access their stalls. She also noted the challenges traders face when shop owners refuse to provide shelter during rainfall, forcing them to carry their wares in the rain.
Madam Akua Adomah, another thrift clothing seller at Kantamanto, shared that floods often result in their clothes getting soaked in muddy water, causing colors to bleed and fade. This results in significant financial losses as some market women lose entire bales of clothes. Ms. Martha Laryea, a trader, added that women face additional stress during floods, having to pursue vehicles to get home and losing sales if they leave the market when rain threatens.
Ms. Laryea also appealed for resources and support to sustain their livelihoods. Mrs. Nyamekye Twumasi, another trader, called for stricter penalties for citizens who litter the city and those who have built on waterways, to help minimize flooding in the metropolis.
