President John Dramani Mahama has paid a working visit to Fuvem, in the Anlo Constituency of the Volta Region which was hit by tidal waves.
The visit was to show solidarity, assess the damage firsthand, and to outline Government’s measures to address the situation.
The Keta Lagoon passes through Fuveme and empties itself into the sea through the Volta River Estuary at Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region.
However, due to tidal erosion, there’s an attempt by the sea, to create a second estuary at Fuveme thereby trying to link the Keta Lagoon directory to the sea, thereby threatening the livelihoods of people, who are mostly fisherfolk.
President Mahama reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to protecting Ghana’s coastline through the construction of sea defence walls to safeguard coastal communities that are being threatened by tidal waves.
He said upon receiving information about what happened with the sea breaking through at Fuveme, his delegation decided to come and take a look at what was happening.
He said the Fuveme area was part of a World Bank project – the West Africa Coastal Area (WACA) Programme.
“We already have done some work ourselves. Earlier when I was President, we did the Agbletorkor Sea Defence, all that area. Before that, Rawlings’ Government had done the Keita Sea Defense and then we also started Blekusu 1 and then Blekusu 2 is currently ongoing,” he said.
“The rest of the coast is supposed to be covered by the World Bank $150 million WACA project and that includes this area all the way to Ketu South and parts of Anloga.”
He said there was going to be sea defence and that they were also going to be groins built into the sea to break the ocean currents, the strong waves; so that it would come back to the coast in a very gentle manner.
He noted that they would also be planting coconut trees on the beaches to stabilize the soil.
President Mahama there would also be planting of mangroves in the estuary to defend the land against the sea’s encroachment.
He said the project stalled for a while in 2024 mainly because of the elections and then when his administration came to power, they continued it.
He announced that the feasibility study on the project was finished and that they were at the design stage.
“After the design stage, they’ll do the procurement. That is the actual construction of the WACA project, and so I’m sure that very soon, we’ll try and speed it up. Very soon, you’ll see that work will start on your coastal area,” the President said.
President Mahama said the $150 million that was meant for the WACA project has been protected.
“So, your money is safe, and the project is going to go on. Some of the other World Bank projects stalled and the money is being repurposed for other important priorities and so I just want to ask for your cooperation as we continue the processes to do the work.”
President Mahama said however, in the meantime, the Volta River Authority (VRA) would be contacted to see if it could do some dredging in the main estuary of the Volta River so that it eases the pressure on the Fuveme side.
President Mahama also inspected ongoing sea defence projects at Akplorwutokor in the Anlo Constituency and Agavedzi in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region.
The President was accompanied by Mr James Gunu, the Volta Regional Minister; Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources; Mr Kwami Governs Agbodza, Minister of Roads and Highways; and Mr Prosper Douglas Kwaku Bani, National Security Advisor.
