Estate developers and individuals have been cautioned against building on waterways and wetlands, to curb the perennial flooding in the Northern Region.
According to Alhaji Abdulai Issah, a retired Lands Officer, the public and the land agencies needed to be educated on the rampant flooding in northern Ghana as results of destruction of wetlands.
The retired lands officer, speaking to the Ghanaian Times in an interview, called for an end to indiscriminate building of houses and other structures on water ways and wetlands.
He said wetlands such as flood plains, lakes and reservoirs help minimise floods in inland water systems.
Alhaji Issah said “wetland ecosystem, including rivers, lakes, marshes rice fields and coastal areas provide many functions that contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation.”
He added that inland fisheries were of particular importance to developing countries and sometimes the primary source of fish protein for inland communities.
Alhaji Issah said that wetland provided humans with wild games, fruits, grains and retention of water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use, production of logs, fuel woods , fodder extraction of medicine and others.
He advised individuals to help in the protection of wetlands since government agencies could not do it alone.
