Port authority supports NGO to clean shorelines

A Marine protection initiative to ensure sustainability of the country’s oceans for shipping and fishing has led to the cleaning of some beaches in Accra and Tema.

A non-profit organisation, Coastal Conservancy Organisation (CCO), spearheaded the cleaning of the beaches of plastics and other debris.

The programme, which was first launched in August 2019 under a pilot sponsorship from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), has seen a team of 165 volunteers engaged by the NGO to undertake daily cleaning at the Sakumono, Nungua, Teshie, La and Osu Borla beaches.

On the average, volunteers engaged by the NGO collect about 12.20 kilogrammes of waste, translating into 5,700 kilogrammes of plastics alone from the five beaches, since September last year.

According to the Executive Director of CCO, Ms Adjoa Saaba Eshun, the programme was to ensure the creation of safe recreational spaces at seasides, enhance the protection of the biodiversity of the sea and the marine environment towards addressing the impact of climate change on the country.

The Sakumono Beach after the cleaning exercise.

Interview

She told the Daily Graphic that the effects of marine pollution and the continual deterioration of the country’s coastlines and beaches had led to loss of productivity, particularly for artisanal fishermen.

Ms Eshun stated that the world’s waters and oceans quality had been on a decline with Ghana being no exception, “as evident in most of our beautiful beaches turning into some of the dirtiest water sources we see today.”

She maintained that the effects of marine pollution and the deterioration of Ghana’s coastline and beaches as a result of human activity required the commitment of not only people residing within coastal communities but every citizen, “if we want to harness the resources for economic and tourism gains.

“Our coastline attracts hundreds of visitors yearly for recreational purposes and it’s worrying that you can’t see sand when you go to the beach but rather, you see filth, trash and fecal matter engulfing the entire space making the area unwholesome for the purpose of recreation,” Ms Eshun lamented.

Tour

A tour of some of the beaches by the Daily Graphic last Thursday, revealed that debris made up of both plastic waste,
metal objects, clothing, pieces of glass and general waste, including faecal matter, which had been cleared had left the shores spotlessly clean.

A number of waste bins had been positioned at vantage points at the Beaches for revellers to deposit their waste into.

It was observed, however, that some recalcitrant traders along the Sakumono Beach, for example, were seen occasionally leaving plastics from sachet water bags around the environment.

The Executive Director of CCO expressed the hope that the CCO would be able to raise adequate funding to enable it commence similar activities in the Western Region, where they had already undertaken some piloting.

She commended the GPHA for the relentless support for the organisation’s efforts and expressed the hope that other institutions would also support the NGO to expand the scope of the project.

GPHA

The Director-General of the GPHA, Mr Michael Luguje, in a separate interview, said the authority was proud to have supported and provided pilot funding for the project.

He said the beaches and their adjoining waters were an eyesore, “and even extending the solid waste pollution to nearby waters as well as the waters within the Tema Port. We expected a solution to be found but that was not coming from any entity, until the CCO’s initiative came knocking on our doors,” Mr Luguje said.

He said with the intervention of the NGO, not only were the beaches clean, but adjoining communities and beach users too were being sensitised to help curb indiscriminate disposal of waste along the beaches and into the sea.