New Juaben residents flee homes over landslide threat

Residents, who occupy buildings on the slopes of the mountains of Danyame, a community in the New Juaben municipality of the Eastern region have fled their homes over a landslide threat which occurred Tuesday night after several days of continuous downpour.

According to the residents, they experienced earth tremor as a result of which rock falls along the slopes of the mountain. Although no casualty was recorded, the incident has triggered fear among the people hence the move to desert their homes for fear of losing their lives.

Environmentalists have expressed concern with the devastating deforestation on the mountains surrounding the municipality. Lands on the slopes of the mountains are being gobbled for building regardless of the dangers as rocks hang on their buildings.

The disaster rescue team in the municipality including the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Police have visited the scene for assessment.

According to experts, landslide can be triggered by several factors including geological factors, morphological factors, physical factors and factors associated with human activities that made the slope vulnerable to failure, that predispose the slope to becoming unstable.

The municipality is said to have a serious record of landslides which occurred several decades ago.