Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Works and Housing, is calling for financial resources to be directed towards the soon-to-be-launched Ghana Hydro Fund.
This fund is expected to play a significant role in financing numerous ongoing hydrological projects in the country.
During a working visit to Kyebi in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, where the Minister inspected various public and ancillary works, he took the opportunity to encourage both the local public and the international community to back this initiative, which aims to advance hydrological projects nationwide.
“The Ghana Hydrological Authority Act which was passed creates a hydro fund. Why? So that resources can be mobilised to do the hydro works that are required across our country. The sad story about hydro works is that, over the years if you look at the resources that have been made available, as significant as they may be, you know, they are inadequate if you compare them to the problem. I’ve been making the point that in the Greater Accra region, for example, if you look at the work that must be done vis-à-vis what has been done, they’ve only done about 2% of the work,” he stated.
He further explained the challenges faced when there is excessive rainfall, and how human activities often exacerbate these issues.
“And that is why whenever you have inordinate amounts of rainfall, you see the challenge it is bringing up. This is apart from the fact that a lot of us are also, you know, either putting things in waterways that we shouldn’t be doing or, you know, causing these drains to be choked every now and then. The hydro fund was set up by law so that it can mobilise resources from the treasury, from our development partners, from some of the climate change sources so that more resources will be made available to do these projects,” he stated.