PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahama has assured residents of Fuveme and Blekusu in the Anloga District and Ketu South Municipality respectively that funds for the construction of their sea defence systems were intact.
The President said feasibility studies for the World Bank project which stalled in 2024 as a result of the elections was complete and that works would start soon.
“We tried to repurpose some of the World Bank projects but as the minister said, we protected the US$150 million that is meant for the WACA project. So your money is safe and the project is going to go on.
“Some of the other World Bank projects stalled and the money is being repurposed for other important priorities and so I just want to ask for your cooperation as we continue the processes to do the work but in the meantime, we will contact VRA to see if they can do some dredging in the main estuary so that it eases the pressure on this side,” the President said.
President Mahama gave this assurance yesterday when he visited affected areas of the resurged tidal wave devastation in the two coastal communities in the Volta Region.
He explained that normally, when the estuary is silted, then it looks for ways to join the sea in other places and that causes the sea erosion.
“That is what is happening exactly here but if we dredge it, it allows more water to flow into the sea. So we’ll take immediate measures to try and reduce the effect but the long-term solution is the World Bank project which we are about to start,” President Mahama indicated.
He said apart from the sea defence project, other environmentally friendly activities like planting of coconut trees on the beaches and planting of mangroves in the estuary would be undertaken to stabilise the soil to defend the land against the sea’s encroachment.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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