President John Dramani Mahama has directed the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to extend the Keta sea defence project to cover more communities to protect the area from the menace of tidal waves.
According to the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Kweku Agyeman-Mensah, the directive became necessary following the recent tidal waves which destroyed communities in the area.
“The President has directed that the ministry takes measures to ensure that what happened does not occur again and so he said an emergency sea defence be built to protect the residents,” he stated.
Dr Agyeman-Mensah disclosed this during a visit to the affected communities in the Keta municipality in the Volta Region.
Although he declined to give details of the cost of the project and how soon it would start, he assured the victims that the government would deliver on its promise soon.
Situation
Last weekend, homes and schools at Fuveme, Kporkporgbor, Whuti, Srogboe, Dzita and Agbledomi were hit by the waves, displacing hundreds of people and damaging properties and farmlands. A cemetery at Fuvume was also affected by the waves.
During the visit, it was observed that most of the affected communities were filled with plants and refuse which were dumped by the surging water.
The roofs of most houses, especially at Fuveme, were also ripped off.
While some of the affected victims had cleaned their houses to resettle, others had to sleep in the open while some also perched with relatives and friends at nearby communities.
The Fuveme Primary School, the only school in the community, was almost washed away, while some parts of the Dzita EP School were completely destroyed.
A cemetery at Dzita was also submerged in water.
“It happened so fast that within 30 minutes, our house was overtaken by the water and the level was at my waist. There was nothing we could do, so we lost most of our properties,” Mr Kwame Aklorbutu, a victim at Srogbe, told the journalists who accompanied the minister.
Another victim at Fuveme, Mr Jacob Apetorgbor, said although authorities had relocated the victims to an area, more work needed to be done at the new place.
Statistics
According to the Municipal Chief Executive of Keta, Mr Slyvester Tornyavah, about 344 households and 247 houses involving 1,720 victims and three schools were affected.
Briefing the minister earlier, he said about 21 houses at Kporkporgbor were completely displaced and the land almost washed away.
Mr Tornyavah noted that about 2.5 acres of vegetable farmlands including okra, carrots, pepper and onion were affected.
Background
Residents along the Keta municipality coastal belts have for some years been enduring the devastating effects of tidal waves where the sea overflows its banks and submerges houses sited close to the shore.
Its recurrence led to the construction of the $60 million Atorkor-Dzita-Anyanui sea defence project to bring relief to the people. However, it seems the project will have to be extended to cover more communities.
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