The municipal chief executive of Keta, Emmanuel Gemegah, has appealed to corporate institutions and benevolent organisations to come to the aid of individuals affected by the latest tidal wave to wash through Keta.
At least 3,000 people in the Keta Municipality have been rendered homeless after a tidal wave swept through their homes on Sunday (5 November).
Communities such as Abutiakope, Kedzikope and Keta Central were largely affected, and residents were left with nothing to salvage.
Speaking to Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (9 November), Gemegah said: “I just want to use your medium to appeal for assistance from everybody.
“Anyone listening to us now should come to our aid. The assembly alone I don’t think will be able to do everything for our people, because of the budgetary constraints.
“Therefore anyone listening to us who wants to help, especially people from the Keta area who are in the diaspora, wherever – please get back. Please come home and come and help the situation,” Gemegah said.
Illegal sand winning
The executive director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has blamed the latest tidal wave in Keta partly on the increasing activities of illegal sand winners in coastal areas.
Speaking to Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (8 November), Kokofu said: “It is quite disturbing. That has been the warning that we have got to be very careful.
“Recently we were in the news battling some people winning sand and exporting it illegally to Togo … once you do all these things, you are encouraging this degradation, and you are encouraging the sea tidal waves to invade the land and cause havoc.”
He added: “Our attitude as a people is a major thing to look at. It has to do with awareness creation and education, and applying the law by punishing the wrongdoer.”
The EPA director is also advocating a review of the way a sea defence wall is to be built for Ghana to address the threat of tidal waves.
“Going forward, we have got to look at the whole concept of sea defence walls and the construction methods. The escalation of tidal waves as a result of climate change is somehow a cause … but the practical way is to stop sand winning,” Kokofu said.
Fred Dzakpata
Listeners to #Asaase Radio who wish to contribute to the relief effort in cash or kind can contact the Keta Municipal Assembly (email: ketamce@ghanadistricts.gov.gh).
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