Anlo Beach to be wiped out in a year

The Anlo Beach in the Shama District in the Western Region is gradually being washed away by sea waves.

The sand bar on which the entire community sits is vanishing very fast and researchers have warned that the community has less than a year to exist.

The community has always lived on the sand bar which separates River Pra and the associated wetland from the ocean.

In the past 30 years, more than 1,000 houses have been destroyed by the sea.

More than 198 houses along the shores of the community were washed away and more than 800 residents displaced during a June 2017 tidal waves that hit the community.

Threats

This came to light during a tour of some of the beaches along the Shama coastline. The tour was part of a five-day programme organised by the Centre for Coastal Management of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) for journalists selected across the country.

A lecturer at the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences of UCC, Professor John Blay, who has carried out some studies of the area, confirmed that the community had less than a year to exist taking into consideration the rate at which the sand bar was being ‘eaten’ up by both the sea and the Pra River.

"We were here last April and saw a very wide sand bar separating the river from the sea. However in September this year, the community lost over 50 metres of the sand bar to erosion from tidal waves and the river," he told the journalists who were being trained on climate change.

The living space of the area has been reduced significantly, with the sea creeping towards the remaining homes.

"With what is happening here, if it continues like that, the sand bar will be gone in no time and the community also gone."

Background

The Anlo Beach is considered one of the picturesque communities in the country.

It is one of many beautiful and clean beaches one can find in the country. However, it had not been able to reap bountifully from its tourism potential due to ferocious attacks from incessant ocean surges as a result of climate change and rising sea levels.

Relocation

A resident, Rose Agbenyo, admitted that the best solution was for the government to help them relocate because it was no longer safe to live in the community.

The Secretary to the Council of Elders of Anlo Beach, Mr Nobel King Dogbatey, indicated that there was a discussion among them, the government and the Omanhene of Shama to have a new site released to them.

"We know it will not be long for the sea to sweep the entire community,” he said.