Work on the final phase of the sea defence project at Atorkor-Dzita-Anyanui in the Keta municipality of the Volta region, which is estimated to cost US$54 million, has been completed.
The final completion of the project in October 2014, involved the construction of seven groins into the sea to protect the boulders along the 2.7-kilometre stretch of the shoreline.
The first phase of the project, valued at $30 million which started in 2008, saw the construction of boulders on the shore line to stop the sea from reaching the new road and communities.
It also involved the construction of a two-kilometre road and the laying of strong wire mesh to protect the coastline against the sea waves.
The second phase, which started in 2012, saw the construction of a one-kilometre stretch of builders on the shoreline at a cost of US$11 million and was completed within eight months.
Chief Engineer of Amandi Company Limited, an Israeli construction firm, Mr. David Ben Ayum, announced this when deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr. Jonny Kofi Osei, member of Parliament (MP) for Anloga constituency, Mr. Clement Humado, and Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Sylvester Tornyeavah, paid a working visit to the Keta sea defence project.
The visit was aimed at acquainting themselves with the final work done by the Amandi Company Limited and the contractors.
According to him, the completion of project puts an end to the persistent degradation of the coastal stretch of the Keta municipality which will in turn improve the economic growth of the community.
Mr. Ayum said the groins would also serve as a buffer to prevent the waves from hitting the shore, adding that the project was solely financed by the ministry of finance and economic planning.
For his part, Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Tornyeavah, commended Amandi Company Limited, and contractors of the project, for living up to their corporate social responsibility by providing a new computer laboratory, playground, 40 computers, and renovating a school which was nearly washed away by the sea.
He also lauded government’s commitment to supporting the people of Keta and its environs.
Currently, he said, the people of Atorkor, Dzita, Agbledomi, Anyanui, Atiteti, Fuveme, and other areas had benefited from the project.
He appealed for the project to be extended to the entire coastal stretch of the country in order to prevent the sea from depriving people of their livelihood.
He pointed out that the people of Atorkor, Dzita-Anyanui and Keta over the years have been faced with the sea eroding their lands and destroying their properties.
Mr. Tornyeavah recounted that in 2009, the sea erosion got worse in the community of Atorkor and its adjoining environs when then late President John Evans Mills immediately called on the Amandi Company Limited from Israel to solve the problem.
Chief Engineer of Amandi, Mr. Ayum, briefed the press about how difficult it was preventing the sea from entering the township of Atorkor and its environs.
“Amandi was charged with the design and construction of a 2.7km-coastal barrier, as well as a reconstruction of a road decimated by erosion, for Atorkor and its environs in the Volta region," he stated.
Mr. Kofi Osei was happy about how far Amandi Company Limited have changed the environment, and thus urged residents of the three communities in the Keta municipality to take good care of their own properties.
He also called on private institutions to come and make good use of the land by building beautiful resorts and hotels.
Meanwhile, in an interview with a resident who witnessed how bad the situation was far back in 2008, Mr. Dziwornu said: “the sea captured, destroyed our properties which made life unbearable for us at the time.”
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