Several coastal areas in Accra will be swept away by the Atlantic Ocean if authorities fail to implement measures to prevent the rate at which the sea eating away the shore, Dr. Kwasi Appeaning-Addo, a lecturer at the Marine and Fisheries Department of the University of Ghana, has predicted.
He explained that after various studies, it has emerged that if the sea level continues to rise at the current rate “in the next 50 years, if nothing is done about the Osu Castle area, we may lose it. In the next 100 years, we are likely to lose the Independence Square and then in the next 150 years we are likely to lose the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum”.
The effect of the rise in the sea level is already being experienced as homes, fishing boats, and other properties were ruined by ocean tides along the coast of the Greater Accra Region a few days ago.
The Sunday September 4 incident left scores of fishermen counting their losses at the Jamestown fishing hub in Accra.
Ayitey Mensah, one of several affected fishermen, explained that he was the sole breadwinner of a family of 15. He lost two outboard motors, fishing nets, and canoes among other items.
“I am distraught and do not know what to do now. I cannot even sleep because my business and livelihood are ruined. I have children and school has reopened and I do not know what to even do,” he added.
According to him, the value of items destroyed is about GHS100, 000. He pleaded with government to come to their aid to help them re-establish their fishing business.
Explaining the seriousness of the situation, Dr Appeaning-Addo said in a few decades to come, many residents along the coast will be displaced if no measures are implemented to curb the incursion by the sea. “It will result in a massive displacement with problems of migration,” he told Joy FM’s Joseph Opoku Gakpo in an interview.
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