Sea level rise is an increase in the level of the world’s oceans due to the effects of global warming.
This phenomenon poses a grave threat to coastal life around the world, and Ghana is not exempted. Consequences include increased intensity of storms, flooding, and damage to coastal areas. Hundreds of people have been displaced and their villages lost to the raging sea.
The uncertainty surrounding the level of rise makes it difficult to adequately protect lives and property, making tackling global warming, the surest way of dealing with such disaster.
One community badly hit by rising sea levels, is the Amutinu-Salakope District in the Volta Region of Ghana. Economic activities have been disrupted as a result of the recurrent destruction of properties. Assembly member for an electoral area in the district, Kumawu Sylvester says residents are still suffering after the community was hit by three successive tidal wave disasters in 2021 which washed away over 1000 houses and other properties.
“During the severe disaster resident’s fishing boats and outboard motors were submerged in the sea. As a fishing community, their major source of livelihood is fishing so once the boats are being taken away by the sea it means that all those people that depend on the activity will be affected. Women are also unable to get the fish to process them to the market. Students whose school uniforms and bags were washed away by the sea have also dropped out of school because their parents are now jobless. Women also lost their capital amidst the disaster. Victims whose houses were washed away have been putting up in the church building from 2021 till date because we are yet to get a place for them to stay”.
He added, “After the major incident on November 7, Government promised the fishermen outboard motors, to subsidize it for them so that it can be spread within a period of one year. However, the outboard motors that they brought were few and the worse of it was that those were not the kind of motors our fishermen use here so they couldn’t utilize it. It was returned to stores in Accra to be replaced and from 2021 till now we have not heard anything from them. I also requested for loans for women who lost their capital in the disaster but nothing has been done about it to date. The government has never been directly involved in supporting the children back to school. After the government provided relief items for residents after the incident, he has not provided any solutions that will be sustainable”.
Speaking on the condition of the sea, the assembly member said, “As we speak the sea is rough and it’s gradually eating the land again so we are only hoping that the worst incident that happened in 2021 shouldn’t happen again. Because we fear that as it is rough now that incident would happen again. Although from 2021 till date, we have not experienced another disaster and it looks very treacherous”.
In finding a solution to the situation he added, “The major solution to this situation is the sea defense. Ketu South is torn between the sea and the lagoon and these are people who have lived all their lives around the water and their major source of livelihood is fishing. So, with relocating them, there are a whole lot of things that will come to play which I believe the Government is not ready for. So, the only best solution is an extension of the sea defense to cover this community.”
Residents are urging Government to construct a sea defense wall to save them from any future tidal wave disaster instead of always providing them with relief items.
Also, Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Abla Dzifa Gomashie says more needs to be done to mitigate the impact of climate change which is racking havoc to his constituents.
“We all accept that the world has changed, Global warming and climate change are affecting everything that used to be normal, it’s not normal anymore
This report is produced in fulfillment of the UNESCO & CIJ London Climate Change in News Media project facilitated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Bernice Mensah
