By Ewoenam Kpodo
Agavedzi (VR), March 17, GNA – Some victims of tidal waves in coastal communities in Ketu South, have expressed the willingness to discuss relocation options after years of resisting the idea.
Agavedzi and neighbouring communities including Salakope which had been suffering from the damaging effects of the recurring menace since around 2015 had previously refused to relocate, citing emotional attachment to their ancestral land and livelihood concerns.
However, following fast-occurring devastating tidal incursions over the years, especially in 2025, which had destroyed virtually every home in parts of Agavedzi, Amutinu and Salakope, displacing many residents, and threatening to breach the Keta-Aflao Road to continue its devastation inland, the people had begun to reconsider their stance.
Some of the victims, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency during a visit to the area, said they had suffered for so long and that it was time for them to think about their safety and wellbeing, explaining that staying with friends and family after losing their homes to the sea’s ravages had been hard on them.
“It is true that for some time, we have been refusing relocation discussions in the sense that a fish does not live in the forest. We are fisher folks, and our very survival is dependent on the sea.
But now that the sea has taken all our life’s toils, we cannot help but be open to discussing relocation options with the government and other stakeholders,” said Regent Torgbui Dorgbavu of Agavedzi.
Madam Florence Midoamegbe, another victim, who lost her 15-bedroom apartment at Agavedzi to the sea few years ago, expressed worry about her current living condition with no decent place to lay her heard.
“We’re willing to move anywhere government will send us. I now have a makeshift structure just across the road and it is not a safe place at all because it’s a flood-prone area. With the onslaught of the rains, it gets inhabitable.”
Miss Mana Alobuia of Salakope, said they were among the early victims whose homes got destroyed by the tidal waves and that life had never been the same since, thus, called on the government to offer the necessary help to bring hope, particularly to people recently displaced.
While authorities welcomed the decision by victims to consider relocation as government worked to find a permanent solution to the problem in the area, a potential relocation site remained to be identified.
“For some time now, the community members have been refusing attempts to be relocated saying, as fishing-dependent people, their livelihoods would be negatively impacted when moved far away from the sea. But they are now willing to relocate to a new place. So, the relocation is also on the discussion table.
Unfortunately, apart from the current place which is been developed by Ghana Gas to provide accommodation to some of the victims, we are yet to secure any other place which is located inland and is less prone to tidal waves,” Mr Pascal Agbagba, Director of Emergency Operations, Volta R
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama directed that an amount of GH¢200 million be allocated in the 2025 budget, to support victims of recent tidal wave disaster in Ketu South, during a visit to the area.
He advocated for the commencement of the construction of the phase two of the sea defence wall and resettle those whose houses had been affected, adding that the community was looking up for a more suitable site for the resettlement project.
GNA
MA/CAA