By Isaac Arkoh
Cape Coast, July 16, GNA – A thorough by investigation conducted at Twifo-Mampong, in the Central Region, by a team of experts has established that the recent earth movement in the area is a landslide.
The team comprises Seismologists and Geoscientists from the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA), the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Twifo Attimokwa District Assembly.
The movement, which occurred on Friday, June 30, along a steep hill with some cocoa plantations, followed a downpour on the previous day, the GGSA said.
Consequently, it has assured the farmers in the affected areas to continue their farming activities.
However, they must stay away from these areas when there are signs of an impending rainfall.
Mr. Isaac Kuuwan Mwinbelle, the Acting Director-General, in a statement, said an investigation carried out on Tuesday, July 11, had residents in the area confirming that they did not feel the ground shake, but some cocoa trees were destroyed.
Many farmers in the area complained about a suspected earth tremor in the community, leaving large cocoa farms destroyed, a situation which led the GGSA to investigate their claim.
The event, he, however, said served as a warning against potential development along the slopes of the hill and the need for proper enforcement of land-use planning.
He advised against development along the slopes of Hills because such areas may not be stable for infrastructural development.
In addition, he advised Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to enforce effective land-use planning to ensure public safety.
“The Authority wishes to state that, monitoring records from our network of seismic stations located across the country did not record any major earth tremor event from the stations on the said date.
“However, minor earth disturbances recorded during the period did not have the potential to cause the impact that was recorded.
“The geological materials observed at the site were highly weathered metasediments, which were saturated from the heavy downpour, resulting in the movement of materials in multiple locations along the slopes of the hill,” Mr Mwinbelle said.
The area where the landslide occurred is far from settlements and thus, did not affect lives and personal property.
GNA