Public warned to desist from sandwinning along coast
The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has issued a final warning to people winning sand along the coast, particularly at Elmina, to desist from the practice or face the law.
A Deputy Minister of the ministry, Mr Johnny Osei, gave the warning during an inspection tour of the Elmina beach last Thursday to ascertain the consequences of the illegal activity.
The tour was also to help the ministry to determine with the help of hydro experts what could be done in the short and long-term to solve the problem.
According to him, sandwinning at the beaches had become a major national problem which required inter-ministerial and sectorial efforts to resolve.
He noted that because the sand that the illegal sand miners collected from the beaches seemed to be replaced by the sea, they did not see the effect of their activities. However, experts have said the more they collected, the closer the sea drew to the residential areas.
The operators of the Elmina Beach Resort and the Coconut Groove Beach Hotels along the Elmina Beach told the deputy minister that as a result of the sandwinning activities, the sea had consumed part of the land and was gradually drawing closer to the community.
They expressed the fear that if the situation was not brought under control quickly, the whole Elmina community closer to the beach would be eroded by the sea.
Collaboration to salvage Elmina beach
Mr Osei said the ministry would, therefore, collaborate with other ministries, including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, to address the problem.
He said the situation at Elmina needed to be treated with all urgency before the situation deteriorated further.
“The Elmina community is under threat from the sea due to illegal sandwinning at the beach,” he added.
According to him, if the situation was not brought under control now, the state would have to spend so much money to reclaim land and communities that would be consumed by the sea, as it happened at the Ada beach.
“It is very expensive to do sea defence and land reclaiming jointly. Therefore, we must capitalise on the current option of building a sea defence at Elmina. That would save the country from having to spend more money or reclaiming the land as well,” he said.
He said drastic measures would be taken against people who, after the warning, would be caught winning sand at the Elmina beach and all other beaches illegally to serve as a deterrent to others.
That, he said, would be done with the help of the security agencies.
The team from the sector ministry met the Central Regional Minister and personnel of various security agencies who were also inspecting the situation in order to help resolve it.
