Some communities in the West Ada District may be submerged by the sea in a couple of years, looking at the current standard of operations by Electrochem Ghana Limited, a private salt producing company.
The communities have been battling sea erosion over the years, with the stalling of the Ada Sea Defence project also to be blamed. The constant breaking of sandbars, instead of the use of a drainage syphon to move sea water by Electrochem Ghana Limited, could be the human activity that would swiftly lead to the submergence of the communities.
At the Lolonya Beach, for instance, an earth moving machine, the property of Electrochem Ghana Limited, breaks sandbars right at the edge of the community to channel sea water into the reservoirs, for the production of salt.
This is fast eroding the beaches of Wekumagbe, Akplabanya, Anyamam, Goi and Lolonya, consequently, drawing the Gulf of Guinea close to the communities.
The Chief Fishermen of Goi and Lolonya, Nene Kamatey Ogbey lV and Nene Joseph Tetteh Agamah respectively, told a section of the media during a recent visit that they suggested the laying of huge pipes in the sea by Electrochem Ghana Limited to collect brine into the reservoirs for their salt production to save the communities.
However, “our suggestion has not been heeded. We are watching,” the two remarked.
Daniel Dotse Anane, a former Assemblyman for the Goi Electoral Area, told The Chronicle that unlike in the past, when salt producing companies conformed to standard procedures in getting brine by laying pipes, Electrochem is allegedly engaging in unacceptable method, observing that “this situation will devastate all the communities if best practices are not adhered to immediately.”
In reaction, the Chief Executive Officer of Electrochem Ghana Limited, Adam Razak, who admitted digging the said trench to transport brine to their reservoirs, expressed surprise that the Communities engaged the media on a possible solution to their problems, which they never mentioned to the company.
He said “I am surprised because the company always engages the people and we expect that they will sit with us if they have any concerns about our digging.”
Razak told the media that Electrochem would look at the situation and devise an alternative method of transporting brine from the sea into their reservoirs for the production of salt.
