By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Aug. 31, GNA – The Center for International Maritime Affairs Ghana (CIMAG) has indicated that using rocks as sea defence cannot be a permanent solution to Ghana’s eroding coastline.
Mr. Albert Derrick Fiatui, the Executive Director of CIMAG, speaking at a Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) media platform, said his outfit had done a lot of research that showed sea defence wall was not the solution to the erosion and tidal wave challenges.
Mr. Fiatui said there was an urgent need to properly protect the 550-kilometres coastline of Ghana, which is the longest in West Africa, stressing that due to coastal erosion and tidal wave destruction, the country was fast losing its beautiful coastline, which spans from Axim to Aflao.
“We think that there is an urgent need for us to take action if we don’t want to lose the beautiful sides of our coastlines. About a year ago, when we started our study, the rate of recession was about 2.2 meters, as against 0.6 across the board. I can tell you for a fact; I’m just coming from the place. Now some areas are even experiencing up to six meters. The communities that are gone, we cannot even give them any rate of recession any more,” he stated.
He explained that in the developed world and in countries that have been able to defeat this challenge, they did not only erect the sea defence walls but also use that as a temporary measure to contain the situation after which they bring in proper solutions.
He added that when the defence walls are erected, it opens up the coastline for spreading of the erosion, explaining that “you erect a sea wall here, by the time you realise the adjoining areas are also under attack. Aside from that, coastal biodiversity is destroyed. And as people who are concerned about the environment, we do not think that should be the way to go.”
The CIMAG Executive Director suggested that Ghana must adopt the technologies and strategies that other countries deployed to successfully protect the eroding coastline.
He said some of the technologies and strategies to protect and reclaim the coastlines included re-shoring and creating mangroves, noting that re-shoring allows for weakening of the wave energy.
He added that the weakening could be used to generate energy, making it a green technology that would not have direct effects on the coastal environment, but rather protected it and reclaimed sand from the sea.
“And we think that is one of the areas we should be looking at. Beyond that, when you go to the Netherlands, they have used the nature-based approach. When you go to the UK, they have also used some other technologies. So in Ghana, we don’t even have to reinvent the wheel. Ours is to understand those countries that are successful and replicate what they’ve done there to be able to secure our coastline,” he added.
He said the rate at which communities are being swallowed by the sea was alarming, therefore the need for an urgent solution, revealing that “when you go to Ketu south from Denu area, coming towards where we have the sea defence erected, those areas are also going. Some are almost up to the road. And so we don’t need anybody to tell you that we are in danger because once we are losing the communities from both ends, it can take a day, just a day, for the whole place to be swallowed up.”
Mr. Fiatui called for proactive action in tackling the situation, saying the situation must be looked at as a national disaster and confronted as such instead of waiting to present relief items to victims annually, stressing that if the country really valued its coastline, it should confront it holistically and address the situation.
He cautioned that without urgent steps, Ghana would no longer have Keta on its map anymore, lamenting that other communities had already been washed away.
“We have a community like Fuveme; there’s a place called Pokpokpo, and other areas that, about three years ago, where communities with schools and all the things that you find in modern communities, today, because of tidal wave destruction, are not there. It started from there. When you go down Ketu South, there are some communities that are also going,” he said.
He stressed that authorities must take action to be able to protect the vulnerable communities, noting that even those places that were already gone could be reclaimed with the appropriate technologies.
GNA