ACCRA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank group announced here on Thursday a 200 million-US-dollar support for projects aimed to reduce flooding in Ghana's capital.
The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Wednesday is expected to bring transformative changes in the Greater Accra Region (GAR).
"More than 2.5 million people in the Odaw River Basin of GAR will benefit from improved flood risk management, solid waste management, and improved access to basic infrastructure and services in targeted communities of the GAR under the project," a release from the bank said.
The focus of the first phase of the GARID project will be the Odaw river basin in the capital. This will later be expanded to other priority basins within the region in subsequent phases.
If successful, the project will lower the risk of floods in the capital, which experienced severe flooding after torrential rains on Wednesday.
"Enhancing infrastructure investment is critical to achieving the World Bank's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, as well as increasing the resilience of African cities," said Henry Kerali, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
The bank will also help address climate vulnerability and inequality by focusing investments on poor neighborhoods of targeted informal settlements which are at a higher risk of flooding, said the country director.
