Sea defence projects on course

Work on five sea defence projects in some communities in the Central Region is progressing steadily.

It will take the projects between one and two years to be completed.

All of them have between 60 and 75 per cent of work already done.

Working visit

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, visited the various project sites as part of a working visit to the Central Region.

He visited Anomabo, Cape Coast, Komenda and Elmina.

At Anomabo, where about 65 per cent of work had been done, the Paramount Queenmother, Nana Mbroba Dabo I, commended the government for the effort to safeguard the coastal communities.

She also commended the contractors for their collaborative engagement with the community.

While some of the communities heartily welcomed Mr Asenso-Boakye and his entourage, the people of Egyaa Number One and Two met the minister at the Anomabo project site in red armbands.

They complained that raging tidal waves were increasingly becoming a threat to life and property in the communities, and also affecting the activities of fishermen.

Mr Asenso-Boakye gave an assurance that the government would work to ensure that all coastal communities were protected.

He explained that about two thirds of Ghana's 550-kilometre coastal line needed some form of protection against the sea.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to seek more funding to support the execution of projects in all communities that were in urgent need of protective infrastructure.

Tours

At Komenda, Amandi Construction Company is undertaking the five-kilometre project there.

The Omanhen, Nana Kwadwo Kru, told the minister that the community could have been wiped away in about 20 years had it not been for the project.

In Cape Coast, Vuluxx Construction Company Limited is undertaking the five-kilometre sea defence project, which includes two breakwater sites, which will allow fishermen to safely dock their canoes, with work 60 per cent complete.

The Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabariba Kwesi Atta II, commended the government for the project.

At Elmina, the Paramount chief of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kwadwo Conduah, expressed happiness with the progress of work, and appealed for the dredging of the silted Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast.

After the tour, Mr Asenso-Boakye, said he was impressed with the Cape Coast project, and commended the contractors for the pace and quality of work executed so far.

He said the government found it important to undertake the project to protect the Cape Coast Castle, the livelihoods of fishermen and Cape Coast in general as a major tourist town.

He gave the assurance that the government would continue to embark on projects that would protect the lives and properties of communities along the coast, emphasising that if nothing was done, the coastal communities might be washed away in a few years.

Projects

The implementation of the coastal erosion project is aimed at protecting beaches and their environs against encroachment by the sea, arresting environmental deterioration, as well as mitigating the negative social and economic consequences of beach erosion.

The Anomabo Coastal Protection project is envisaged to curtail ongoing erosion of the beach.

The Elmina sea defence project in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality is part of Phase III of the Takoradi/Elmina emergency sea protection project by the Government of Ghana under the Ministry of Works and Housing.