Salakope houses seen Monday, vanish Wednesday

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Seen Monday, vanished Wednesday, houses hugging the coastline in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region are being eaten by the appetite of an unchained sea.

JoyNews’ Volta regional correspondent, Ivy Setordjie has reported that in Salakope and Agavedzi, houses she saw two days ago are no more. Some have only the battered and exposed foundations, the memory of a building that once stood.

Residents within these predominantly fishing communities say the ocean’s tide has grown so strong in worsening ways, they don’t recall ever witnessing.

“About 120 houses and over 500 people were rendered homeless yesterday Thursday. The situation is getting worse according to residents,” the reporter added.

As the rainy season intensifies, the level of Volta river rises and drains into the sea whose waves now barge into the communities ferociously.

At least 200 families are now homeless as the sea drew a fresh shoreline. For some, tidal waves-induced homelessness is not the first time.

“We are homeless again without any help from authorities,” a stranded resident told the reporter.

At places like Akplorwotorkor in the Anloga district, an entire community has been wiped out.

A complete takeover of Agavedzi and Salakope communities is only a matter of time and a number of tidal waves, the residents brace for the worst.

At the moment they face a humanitarian crisis. There is the need for shelter, food and clothing as many have lost their properties.

But they say, if this trend of tidal battering is to assuage, they really need a sea defence wall.

MCE for Ketu South, Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, confirmed this need. “It’s sad to see my people in this bad condition. I am pleading with the government to urgently respond to our cries,” he said.

There is a €41m sea defence wall in Keta. Construction commenced in 2000 and ended in 2014. It protects communities like Anyanui, Atorkor and Dzita.

But calls for its extension have been growing since its completion. There was a 2015 plan by government to extend the shield to places like Xorvi, Kedzi and Blekusu.

The sea is believed to have claimed more than one-and-a-half miles of the 550km coastline in recent years.

 

 

Source: Myjoyonline.com

 


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Kennedy Mornah is an Award Winning Ghanaian Journalist with over two decades of experience in the Ghanaian Media landscape spanning the electronic, print and digital media. He is a Media Consultant, a Corporate MC, Radio and TV Host, Founder and Publisher of the Maritime and Transport Digest Newspaper, Businessman, a Go getter and an optimist. He has worked for renowned media organizations including Diamond Fm in Tamale, Luv Fm in Kumasi, Oman Fm in Accra and Starr Fm in Accra In 2017 he received the Reporter of the Year Award at the Ghana Shippers Awards in Accra, Ghana.

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