The anxiety and uncertainty of losing their properties, coupled with the fear of losing their sources of livelihood have become the daily worry of residents of Ampenyi, a fishing community in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipality in the Central Region.
Residents of this community dread the unfortunate situation of being swept away by the turbulent sea while they sleep.
Once nominated as Pan African Festival (PANAFEST) Village by the board of PANAFEST in 1997 and adjudged the most beautiful beach in Ghana by the Ghana Tourist Board in 2003, the story of Ampenyi has now changed for the worse. For over five years and more, the once beautiful Ampenyi beachfront has witnessed a significant sea water level rise.
Since 2020, structures which were within 100 metres stretch away from the shore are sadly being swallowed. Properties including community bathrooms, homes of residents, beach shades, as well as coconut trees have all been lost to the sea. Rocks, which hitherto could be spotted yards away from the shore, have also been captured by the raging sea. Presently, the situation is not much abated as there is barely 50 metres beachfront at Ampenyi even in the dry season.
The dire consequences of the rapid loss of Ampenyi’s beachfront range from displaced residents, an attack on tourism and a threat to the main occupation of the people – fishing – where in no time, fishermen will have nowhere to dock their canoes after fishing expeditions.
CALL FOR HELP
To salvage this rapidly deteriorating situation, residents believe the construction of sea defense by government is the best bet.
“Please help us, even what we eat goes with the water, our kids are always in danger during the high tides and we have to leave them on the streets to prevent them from drowning, a sea defense will prevent the sea from getting to our homes…fishing is our only livelihood, and we barely have anywhere to dock our canoes. The only solution to this problem is a sea defense to reduce the pressure of the sea to Ampenyi” one resident said.
Children have equally not been spared in all this. The high tides have not been kind to their stationery and other school supplies. They reiterate the call for government to come to their aid as their education is also being affected.
“Our books are taken by the sea and every time such a thing happens, we are sacked from school because we do not have some books…our uniforms get wet and wear out early” they explained.
The fast growth of the hospitality industry in this community could very well enhance its economic gains. However, with about 200 meters of the beachfront claimed by the sea, some owners of these facilities fear losing their hard-earned investments.
Tearfully, co – owner of Charlestina Beach Resort, one of the few resorts in the area, questioned why their profits should be used to safeguard their properties.
“Most of the time, it’s an agony to me because so many times I ask my husband, have we come to Ghana to construct sea defense and to pay taxes? Because as it is now, it looks like we pay our taxes, we do the sea defense to save our property and we pay salaries. We have to pay huge sums of money all the time because our walls keep coming down.”
Also, owner of Ayikoo Beach Resort fears what the months ahead may come with as in December 2022 they lost their wall to the sea due to the erosion.
He said, “The Sea comes closer to the land and that is the cause, in our case, where the wall collapsed and I think in a few more years, the palm trees will start falling and it will become worse.”
The owners of these facilities explained that the situation has also reduced the number of tourists that come to their facilities as there is no space for them to enjoy the sea breeze on the beach.
They believe the rising sea level is as a result of climate change experienced across the globe and breakwater could help save the situation and also maintain what is left of the beach for tourists to enjoy when they visit their facilities.
Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that more cases of sea level rise will occur in the future. The panel explains that rising sea level is caused by the added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.
This, the panel says, is as a result of human-caused global warming.
CAUSE OF LOSS OF AMPENYI’S BEACH
The Municipal Chief Executive of KEEA, Mr. Solomon Ebo Appiah, stresses that residents at Ampenyi are bearing the brunt of their own actions – sand winning.
Though the chief of Ampenyi, Nana Takyi Akyin IV, and the Assembly Man for the area, Mr. Charles Baidoo, have refuted this claim, the MCE maintains that it has been the practice over the years and his office is employing all efforts to ensure that sand winning is completely stopped along the coast of KEEA.
“The young people are madly involved. They tell me it is what they have to do to put money in their pocket…some of them told me the sea will automatically bring back the sand when they fetch it” he said.
ATLFMNEWS investigations revealed a concealed night trade where small Kia trucks, under the cover of darkness, are used to facilitate sand winning at Ampenyi.
Drivers of these trucks have now found different routes other than ones blocked by some concerned residents. Some residents also confirmed they have occasionally been seeing these trucks carrying sand from Ampenyi to other places.
The MCE, however, insists that until sand winning is completely eradicated, the Ampenyi community will continue to bear the brunt of its actions.
WAY FORWARD
Dr. Martin Segtub, a climate change communication specialist is of the view that there should be an alternative means of livelihood for the residents engaged in sand winning.
He believes as much as the assembly is making efforts to curtail the situation, arresting perpetrators of such acts should not only be the solution.
In response, the Municipal Coordinating Director at KEEA, Worlanyo Alatevi, said through the assembly’s Business Advisory Centre (BAC) and the Business Resource Centre, they have been engaging people with small businesses to register their businesses but to no avail.
He said there were funding opportunities available for small business owners but people are not taking advantage of them. This, he believes, is because there might be a lack of knowledge of those avenues or the people may not be interested. Irrespective of the challenges, he says BAC continues to encourage people on the need to register their small businesses to take advantage of government interventions that are available.
In addition, he revealed that plans were far advanced to have the Egyeikrom refugee camp decommissioned and handed over to the assembly to avail it for an NGO to use for vegetable Production to give employment to the youth.
“What they are doing is not just looking at vegetable production, but also linking the production to the market. They currently have a database of hotels and institutions that are ready to buy and they also have investors who are also on standby; in case we produce to their specifications, they are willing to buy, so those are areas we are looking at pushing some of the youth in and so we have signed an MoU with them and if it takes off, sensitization will be made and the youth who are interested will be engaged in that regard” he said.
On how to safeguard the lives of residents living on the coastal stretch of Ampenyi, he said the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) will make some assessment of the coastal areas and thereafter make alternative arrangements to relocate people likely to be affected by impending tidal waves.
Mr. Alatevi added that they will also engage the community on any impending disasters to make the place safe for them.
He said the assembly will propose through a letter to the ministry the people’s demand for a breakwater and sea defense for them to send their experts to come and see how feasible it is.
“In our minds, we might think a breakwater will solve the situation, maybe if they send their experts, they will further advise us on a feasible option. We will continue to let the ministry know the impending disasters that may occur and if nothing is done at Ampenyi, we will continue to write to the ministry if there is any intervention they can do to avert any issues.
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Source: Aba Aikins Appah/ATLFMNEWS
You can contact the writer via email at aikins.aba@gmail.com
