370km coastline risk tidal erosion …Hydro authority warns
About 370 kilometres of Ghana’s coastline representing 67 per cent – from Elubo to Aflao – is at risk of tidal erosions and other vagaries of marine weather, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Hydrological Authority (HYDRO), Dr John Kissi, has warned.
A third of the coastline, translating into 180 kilometres is fairly stable with low vulnerability, he added.
The development, Dr Kissi said, was worrying as climate change continue to exacerbate the plight of coastal dwellers and the sustainability of some critical state assets.
In an interaction with the Journalists on coastal erosion and tidal flood risk challenges along the coastline in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Kissi said urgent steps must be taken to protect the shorelines of the country.
“Within the 290 kilometres, there are various important national assets at risk that need urgent action to be protected,” Dr Kissi stated.
These national assets, he noted, included the Aboadze power enclave, St Augustine’s College, University of Cape Coast, security installations, sections of the Accra-Takoradi road, Ningo-Prampram and Blekusu shorelines, and many other communities along the coast.
The causes of the vulnerability of the coastline, he highlighted, included low-lying nature of the coastline, wave action, sand mining, and removal of the vegetation cover, amongst others.
The causes, Dr Kissi explained, were largely due to human activities which needs to be checked in order to control the pending devastation to make the communities sustainable.
“The extraction of sand from beaches and riverbeds depletes the natural coastal defenses and the removal of the vegetation cover reduces natural protection against erosion and storm surges,” he explained.
Having regard to the situation, he said work was ongoing on eight different projects along the shoreline to protect the communities and installations.
They are Dansoman sea defense project, 95 per cent complete, Dixcove sea defense project 37 per cent, Cape Coast costal protection project, 79 per cent, and the Komenda coastal protection works, 98 per cent,
The rest are Anomabu coastal protection project, 74 per cent, New Takoradi coastal protection works phase III, 98 per cent, Aboadze coastal protection project phase II, 70 per cent and Ningo-Prampram coastal protection project, 70 per cent.
“Government is doing a lot but we are urging it to do more to invest a bit more, especially in the most affected areas to protect those strategic assets.
“We also call on the private sector to join hands with the government because some of them have businesses along the coast that are risk if no step is taken to protect them,” he rallied.
To sustainably sustain the coastline, Dr Kissi further urged Ghana to move away from hard engineering to hybrid coastal protection solutions and develop a comprehensive shoreline management plan.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
