Falling Rocks Pose Danger To Residents At Santa-Maria Last Stop

There is a looming danger at Santa-Maria Last Stop within the Shishieshi Electoral Area in the newly-created Ga Central Municipal Assembly of the Greater Accra region, Today has learnt.

The imminent disaster, Today understands, is as a result of the continuous falling of rocks from a top-hill on an abandoned minor-road near the Top Hill Preparatory School, which connects Santa-Maria Last Stop and Anyaa Police Station in Accra.

A similar situation, Today can report, was on the Aburi road in the Eastern region which should guide the central government to devise proactive measures to deal with this looming danger.

And instead of finding means to prevent a catastrophe from occurring, this paper gathered that authorities in Ga Central Municipal Assembly including the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) officer  together with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Madam Sherry Ayorkor Botchwey, and Assembly Member of Shishieshi Electoral Area, Williams Otopah, are optimistic that with  the presence of huge trees on the bridge, it would be difficult for any disaster of that nature to happen as the  trees would block the falling rocks from destroying anything.

What may happen in the case of Santa-Maria Last Stop, Today observed, could be a cave in, for which the trees would not stand any chance of protecting residents, particularly innocent children, who may be moving around the falling rocks from the hill at the time.

When Today visited the area on Friday, April 10, 2015 there were visible cracks, crevices and crevasses in the rocks from the hill.

The inhabitants of the area who spoke to Today on the matter expressed worry and fear over what could happen in the near future, and called on NADMO and the Department of Feeder Roads and Ministry of Roads and Highways to institute contingency measures by way of using earth moving equipment to bring the rocks from the hill to avert any disaster.

“We want to state clearly that if the central government through the Ga Central Municipal Assembly think they cannot continue the construction of that stretch of the road within the Santa-Maria Last Stop township then we (the residents) think that the best way for them to do is to take immediate steps to avoid casualties and unpleasant consequences,” the distressed residents appealed.

Some school children at Top Hill Preparatory School, who always pass along where the falling rocks were, also raised alarm over the situation.

“We always pass through this place every day to school and not a single moment passes without imagining what will happen if any huge  rock falls from the hill. We pray we will not be around when that happens,” the school children told Today.

When asked whether there were action(s) being taken to prevent the rocks from further failing from the hill, the school children remarked that: “We overheard sometimes ago that our parents had contacted NADMO, Ga Central Municipal Assembly, the MP and Ministry of Roads and Highways to help pull down the falling hill but nothing has so far been done about it.”

A 45-year-old mother of three stated that quite a number of innocent children play each day around the place, a situation she described as disastrous for the children.

“And because of this, we always check on our little children after school so they will not go near the place, but as you, (referring to this reporter) know, children sometimes ignore their parents’ advice and do otherwise.

“…we do that because we want to ensure that they are safe. We cannot afford being at home to hear news that something disastrous has happened and our children have been hurt. God forbid!” Mrs. Asedah asserted.