Unrelenting tidal waves will continue to threaten to end the life of hundreds of residents of Anlo Beach, including that of new born babies, as well as destroy properties running into several hundreds of Cedis, following the Shama District Asembly’s inability to secure funds to purchase fuel for a machine to prepare a land to relocate the community.
“Each tidal wave that hits the community leaves in its wake immeasurable destruction to property. The tidal waves and the aftermath only serve as a crude reminder of the urgent need to relocate the community. And we have had too many of such reminders. Therefore, the call for action should not be ignored.”
National Democratic Parliamentary Candidate for Shama in the Western Region Emelia Arthur reiterates the urgent need for the relocation of the Anlo Beach Community “before something we could have avoided happens”.
Broken structures of once residences, schools, recreational areas and pubs line up the shores of Anlo beach.
The beautiful lines of coconut trees that adorned the large expanse of golden sand which served as a breath-taking sight for tourists have been erased by the sea. It is now hard to tell if even there were coconut trees at the beach at all.
Michael Ansah, a resident of Shama who frequents the beach to escape life worries, stands at, about one hundred meters from the next broken structure which used to be a classroom block, in a pensive mood. His gaze is fixed on the sea. Every now and then he will look at the broken structure and back at the sea, will shakes his head and let out a loud sigh.
“This whole area which is now covered in sand actually used to host houses. I remember from the school building – he points at it – I will walk pass eight houses before I will hit the shore,” he recalls.
“Those houses are all gone and I cannot even see the foundations. I guess they are buried in the sand now.
“I wonder where perhaps the hundreds of occupants of those houses are now.
“This time, he will not find his usual respite at the Anlo beach as the beach appears to have problems of its own. He will normally spend between three to four hours at the beach. Today, he has been at the beach for only ten minutes and is already making his way back to Shama. Life lives here no more,” he concludes.
For the hundreds of residents of Anlo beach, they seem to have angered the sea so much that it is eating away their community with careless abandon and at a frightening speed.
“More than 100 meters of the shoreline as well as over fifty structures over the decade have been lost to the sea,” one community leader projects.
The main economic activity, fishing, has also been mercilessly disrupted by the sea. No boat or canoe is able to land at the shore. Schooling has become a daily struggle as the sea will find its way into classrooms always and unannounced during instructional hours.
Recent tidal waves
Last month, another tidal wave hit the community. It came in the night. This time, so ferocious that every inch of the community was covered in sea water and sand. In the end, families in 175 households were rendered homeless. For days, the residents had to spend countless hours scooping the sea water and sand from their rooms and compounds.
Dressed only in her pink nightgown with a black scarf which exposes some of her permed hair, Connect FM met one woman using a metal plate to scoop a heap of sand from her room. She is using lights from her mobile phone to aid the work.
Another resident laments: “The tidal waves hit us at about 1am. I have spent the past 1 hour trying to scoop sand out of my room so I can create space to sleep. For years past, we have not had any sound sleep. You sleep with one eye open because you don’t know when the next wave will hit. Once it hits, you have to be awake so that you can protect your property.
He will sleep with a friend tonight as “the level of destruction left behind is difficult for me to address tonight and so I’m moving to a friend’s place”.
“You see that I have only my trousers on with no shirt. All my belongings are soaked.”
Relocation
After a severe flooding of the community in 1996, the then Omanhen for Shama gave out several plots of land to relocate the Anlo beach community.
Unfortunately, two families claiming ownership of the land have been at each other in court thereby preventing the assembly from going ahead with the relocation process.
“If you look at how people have been displaced, it’s very bad. So, we spoke to them and we gave them the assurance that something is going to be done; that is, to move them permanently to the resettlement area… We know there are disputes over the land and on Friday, we are calling all those involved to talk to them, that we can’t wait any longer… So, we move them; when you have any case, come to us for us to settle,” Ebenezer Dadzie, District Chief Executive for Shama, had said at the height of the litigation.
The Shama District Assembly went ahead to clear the land and further made the necessary demarcations. However, for some strange reasons, the relocation did not happen.
August’s ferocious tidal waves has once again heightened the need for the relocation.
Unfortunately, the land is now overgrown with weeds and will require more funds to clear it. But the assembly has no funds to purchase fuel for the grader to work on the land. This is despite the fact that residents are eager to relocate.
“We don’t know what will happen to us when the next tidal wave hits. We have suffered enough. We are eager to move but we understand there is no fuel for the grader to work with. So, we are pleading for help as we do not know when the next tidal wave will hit and what may or may not happen when it comes. We have already lost too much and cannot lose more” Samuel Borlu, Assembly Member sounds frustrated.
Former President Mahama’s intervention
Responding to calls for support, former President Mahama has presented assorted items to victims of the August tidal waves disaster.
They include assorted food items, beddings among others.
Emelia Arthur, NDC’s Shama Parliamentary Candidate indicates: “What has happened is a sad one. Several properties have been lost. It’s hard, it’s difficult. So, when former President Mahama heard of it, he decided to support the victims to at least lessen their pain while a permanent solution is sought for them.”
The parliamentary candidate who led a team of regional and constituency executives as well as some party faithful in presenting the items, on behalf of the former President, sympathised with the victims and called on the assembly to as a matter of urgency “look for funds to complete the relocation process because it will be sad for lives to be lost before we take the needed action.”