Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Operations and Chairman of the National Flood Mitigation Taskforce, Stan Dogbe, has clarified that Sunday morning’s demolition exercise at the Laboma enclave was not intended to clear businesses across the area.
According to him, the exercise focused solely on structures that had been specifically identified and marked for removal to facilitate the dredging of silted portions of the Kpeshie Lagoon’s water-retention basin.
“Sunday morning’s exercise by the Post Flood Mitigation Task Force and the REGSEC was not a demolition of Laboma,” Mr Dogbe said in a Facebook post.
He explained that the water-retention basin, which historically served as a channel for water flowing downstream into the sea, has over the years been degraded by the destruction of vegetation and the filling of parts of the area with solid materials, including boulders, for construction purposes.
Mr Dogbe said such activities have obstructed the natural flow of water from upstream towards the sea while significantly reducing the basin’s capacity to retain floodwaters during heavy rains.
He stressed that the structures demolished on Sunday were those identified as directly affecting efforts to restore the lagoon’s drainage and water-retention capacity.
“It is these structures that the owners were alerted more than a month ago, by the REGSEC, that were pulled down on Sunday morning. Other structures and businesses have not been touched because that is not within the work scope and mandate of the Task Force,” he said.
The exercise followed a directive from the Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) after an inspection of the Laboma Beach enclave.
Following the inspection, occupants within what was previously a protected lagoon buffer zone were directed to vacate the area within 21 days to pave the way for flood mitigation works.
Mr Dogbe further disclosed that the demolition team removed a newly constructed wall along the Labadi-Teshie road.
According to him, the wall was blocking an area where vegetation had already been destroyed and filling with solid materials was ongoing, further compromising the natural drainage system.
The intervention forms part of broader efforts under the government’s post-flood mitigation programme to restore critical waterways and improve drainage capacity in flood-prone areas.
The Kpeshie Lagoon has been identified as a key intervention point, with years of illegal reclamation, sand filling and uncontrolled development blamed for reducing its natural ability to retain and convey floodwaters.
Mr Dogbe’s clarification is aimed at distinguishing the targeted removal of structures obstructing flood mitigation works from a general demolition exercise affecting businesses and properties within the wider Laboma enclave.
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