ECO-HAVOC - SEA CLAIMING ADA, SEKONDI, SHAMA & KETA (Front page) 06-09-08

Story: News Desk Report
STRONG tidal waves have swept through some communities along the country’s coastline from Keta, through Ada to Sekondi and Shama, rendering thousands of people homeless and destroying houses and other properties, running into thousands of Ghana cedis.
From the Dangme East District, Kofi Yeboah reports that the situation has put a halt to fishing, which is the main occupation of the people in the affected areas of Ada.
Totope, one of the most affected communities, has virtually been washed away, a situation that has necessitated their immediate resettlement.
About 700 metres of the road leading to the village from Ada Foah has been washed away by the sea about four feet deep, making it extremely difficult for the inhabitants to commute to and from the village.
Officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in the district said they could not even find a place to mount tents for the people and were, therefore, making frantic efforts to resettle the people of Totope.
The tidal waves are said to be very high and swift during the night, sweeping the coastal areas, but becoming low during the day.
Many houses, mostly made of mud and thatch roofing, in some of the affected areas have collapsed, while others have been submerged with a few buried half way in the sand, since last Wednesday when the waves began pounding the coastal areas.
Information gathered indicated that the severest form of high tidal waves was yet to be experienced as has been the case every year over the past three decades.
Notwithstanding the danger ahead, the inhabitants of Akpablanya, Totope, Lolonyakope, Ayigbo and Azizanya are more willing to live with the danger than to abandon their ancestral homes.
“Master, there is no place to go. If you go to Ada Foah, you are going to rent a room and there is no money,” Mr Joe Baah, a resident of Ayigbo, said in response to a question as to why they were not leaving the area.
“We are praying for the sea to calm down,” he added.
Indeed, the people do not seem to be bothered by the devastation being caused to their environment as they were seen taking life easy with some children between the ages of three and 12 having fun swimming in the lake created by the tidal waves.
The only precaution some of them have taken is to evacuate their properties to safe grounds and pass the night elsewhere.
The sea erosion in the affected communities is said to have started in the late 1970s, a period of three decades within which the sea has crept about four kilometres inland, forcing some of the communities to abandon their homes.
According to some of the residents, government officials had visited the area on many occasions with promises to construct a sea defence wall to solve the problem, but all to no avail.
The District Chief Executive for Dangme East, Mr Israel Narh Baako, said a soil test to ascertain the quality of soil was undertaken in January and February to pave the way for the construction of the 31-kilometre sea defence wall, which would stretch from Azizanya to Wokumagbe
He said at the moment, the government was looking for funds to undertake the project estimated to cost $50 million and assured the affected communities that as soon as the fund was available a permanent solution would be found to the problem.
From Keta, Victor Kwawukume reports that the tidal waves sweeping across the coastal areas of the Volta Region show no sign of abating as more communities continue to be affected.
The situation was more aggravated at Dzita on Thursday night as the waves destroyed more homes and properties and rendered more people homeless.
Residents told the Daily Graphic that at least 50 more homes were devastated by the waves, rendering more than 200 people homeless.
As of 10 a.m. yesterday morning, commercial vehicles were sighted evacuating people from places in Keta that had not been affected.
At Kedzi and Vodza, where the sea defence wall and groynes are in place to repel strong tidal waves from coming on land and causing destruction, there was widespread grief as several canoes, fishing nets and outboard motors that had been anchored at the beach were carried away by the strong waves.
Fishermen at the areas were grieving over their losses as they recounted that they could not raise the needed money to purchase new canoes and outboard motors.
One fisherman who identified himself as Efo Kodzo, could not hold back his tears as he stood helplessly and watched the current crush his canoe into pieces.
According to the fishermen, the last time they witnessed tidal waves of this magnitude was 11 years ago and some described the current waves as the first test case for the sea defence and the groynes that were built to repel the waves.
At Sorku-Horvi and Blekusu, where there is no sea defence, the sea had entered the homes of people but not with the force comparable to the devastation at Dzita, Akplowotorkor, Atorkor and surrounding areas.
The situation is having a serious effect on commercial activities in the area as the predominant occupation of the people of the Kedzi-Vodza-Blekusu-Adina area is fishing.
According to the fishermen, for the past three days, they have been unable to go to sea, thereby leading to loss of revenue and placing them in danger of famine.
The women fishmongers have also had their commercial activities curtailed by the situation and now have to help their male counterparts to collect water from their rooms.
They have called on the government to assist them with relief items, especially food, to help them cope with the situation.
At the time of filing this report, the District Chief Executive, Mr Edward Kofi Ahiabor, had intimated that officials from the national office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were on the way to the area to assess the situation.
He also renewed his call for assistance from the state and other international bodies.
The Member of Parliament for the Anlo Constituency, Hon. Clement Kofi Humado, who was also in the area to assess the situation, announced plans to source for relief items for those affected.
From Sekondi, Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu reports that tidal waves swept through the coasts of Sekondi and Shama in the Western Region at dawn yesterday, in what observers believed is a new phenomenon sweeping across the Gulf of Guinea.
The waves left in their wake a lot of debris on the streets, making it difficult for motorists to ply the roads, especially in Sekondi.
The waves washed across the sea defence wall at Sekondi and filled gutters, thereby rendering the coast very foggy.
No casualties have, however, been reported.
Food vendors who were preparing for the day’s activities were not spared the resultant confusion, as their wares were washed away by the waves.
The already weak Bakano bridge that links Nkontompo to Sekondi, also had its plight worsened with the ferocious pounding by the waves.
“I was very scared at dawn when I saw the waves coming; from where I was standing it was very high,” Mr Maddy Edwards, a resident said.
He said the situation was such that “we only pray that the next day comes to meet us without the sea water flooding our rooms.
“I woke up early as usual, to set my fire to prepare for my customers, but before I realised, the waves had washed my wares onto the street amidst a strong wind and fog,” said a kenkey seller.
The Metropolitan Director of NADMO, Mr Alex Adu-Buahene, asked the people not to take the situation for granted and asked those who had relatives on higher grounds to join them until further notice as the situation could be serious, should the waves recur in the night.