Revellers throng beaches in Accra to celebrate Easter Monday

The beaches of Accra were full of life on Easter Monday as hundreds of people, mostly the youth, celebrated the national holiday with funfair.

But as the people enjoyed themselves, the poor management of beaches in Accra was once again exposed.

At all the beaches the Daily Graphic visited, plastic, polythene and other waste materials littered the areas.

Among the beaches the team visited were those at Osu, Korle Gorno and La.

For instance at Korle Gorno, it was observed that the string of beaches that lined up the coastal community, including Nordsee, Korle, Oceanic, Royal Dede and Sunset beaches, had no refuse bins, as a result, the sea waves swallowed up the waste.

Situation

In spite of the sanitation challenges, it was clear that revellers still preferred spending their holidays with loved ones and family members at the beaches than at home and other places.

This was manifested by the heavy traffic jam on many of the roads that led to the beaches, thus compelling drivers to move at slow pace.

Commercial activities were at its peak as food vendors and other traders took advantage of the situation to cash in.

There was a lot to eat and drink; ranging from kebab to grilled chicken, gizzard, sausage, jollof and fried rice, including various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

A good blend of music from different genres blared in the air as the revellers sang and wriggled their waists to popular beats.

Some of the patrons also took part in recreational activities on the beaches such as horse riding, acrobatics, football and volleyball, while others were seen relaxing in the sand with their families and loved ones.

Ugly scenes

As usual of such festive occasions, there were ugly scenes of some young revellers who openly engaged in some immoral acts at the beaches.

At the Borla Beach at Osu in particular, some teenagers were seen exposing vital parts of their bodies and engaging in obscene acts in the full glare of other patrons.

Not even the presence of the police could deter them.

A combined team of marine police and internal security guards were stationed at some of the beaches to maintain order and protect lives by ensuring that swimmers did not go beyond a certain limit.

Some of the people, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, expressed satisfaction with the general atmosphere at the beaches but called for more to be done to rid the areas of filth.

"I normally stay at home on Easter Mondays but I do not think that would be the case anymore because, my experience at the beach here today is great.

I want to appeal to the managers of the beaches to keep it clean so that we can have more fun here," a female reveller who did not want to be named, said.