The West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) project sites in Greater Accra, notably Shaibu in the Ablekuma West Municipal Assembly and Jamestown in the jurisdiction of Accra Metropolitan Assembly, were visited by a team from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MEST), World Bank, Civil Society Organizations (CSOS) and the District Assemblies on 16th April, 2025.
The MEST team was led by Dr. Memuna Mattah, and the World Bank team was headed by Mr. Raymond Kirwa, whilst Mr. Peter Asiedu, the Executive Director of Nurture Nature Foundation (NNF), together with Mrs. Vida Akekodaga, the Chief Executive Officer of Fill the Gap Africa (FTGA), represented the CSOS under the Coastal CSOS Forum (CCF) in conjunction with Hon. Daniel Tagoe, the Assembly Member of Shaibu Electoral Area, representing the District Assembly.
CONCERNS AT SHAIBU
At Shaibu, the team’s major concern was to analyse the current community landscape due to coastal erosion causing damage to buildings and the main road. Mr. Raymond Kirwa asked about the local or community stakeholders’ involvement in the WACA project, to which Mr.Daniel Nortey of MEST responded that there are 135 community committee members in all the designated project areas, whose responsibilities, among others, are monitoring all activities and giving feedback to the CCF Coordinator.
Mr. Raymond Kirwa further asked about the structure of the community committees and whether it was based on family and friends. For the answer, Hon. Daniel Tagoe said that he played an instrumental role in the community committee membership selection with fairness and general acceptance by the community leaders. Adding to that, Mr. Peter Asiedu indicated that persons with disability are represented on every community committee to promote all-inclusiveness in the community committee, which was applauded by Mrs. Sarah Boasiako, a member of the World Bank team.
Mrs. Sarah Boasiako asked whether the community committee have an office they operate from, to which Mr. Peter Asiedu answered that District Assemblies are part of the stakeholders, which allow the community committee members space when needed for activities.
Mr. George Mawuli a community committee member, asked whether the construction of the ongoing groynes is part of the WACA project, which Mr. Daniel Nortey replied it was not part of the WACA project; rather, it was initiated by the previous government to check the devastating coastal erosion affecting the livelihoods of the community dwellers.
Comparing the groynes at Glefe to those currently at Shaibu, Mr. David Addoquaye, who was part of the attendees, said that at Glefe is much fortified and has withstood the test of time, but he wonders if the same can be the case at Shaibu. In his reply, Mr. Daniel Nortey said all the necessary assessments will be carried out by consultants to ensure the sustainability of the intervention to prevent future coastal erosion to save the landscape.
Mrs. Sarah Boasiako asked whether there is a concept note for the training of community committee members on grievances redress resolution, which Mr. Daniel Nortey replied in the affirmative, adding that such training will be organized for both Volta and Greater Accra region teams in different clusters for a period of one week, she thus requested for a copy for the World Bank team.
The duration of the WACA project span was also a major concern for Mr. Nii Aflah, who is part of the attendees, to assure the completion of the groynes. In response, Mr. Daniel Nortey replied that it will be done by the Ghana Hydrological Authority within the time scheduled for their mandate.
CONCERNS AT JAMESTOWN
At Jamestown, the team’s major concern was the issue of waste deposit at the shore, although there is much evidence of coastal erosion effects causing damage to culverts along the estuary bridge, and makeshift structures along the shore, which are eroding towards the main road.
The head of the World Bank team was so amazed by the waste predicament at the shore, which is mainly composed of insulators, coconut shells and broken food packages. However, a careful observation of the waste deposit shows absolutely collection of waste plastic bottles and sachet rubbers, which is clearly positive for the segregation of waste to add value to plastics.
The first question asked by Mr. Raymond Kirwa was why the shore is covered with such an avalanche of waste. In response, Mr. Maxwell Adjei, a member of the community committee, explained that the Korle Lagoon is a carriage route for waste from the inland drainages, which is emptied into the sea. He also stated that all the dwellers in the makeshift structures along the coast deposit their waste at the shore, as paying the waste deposit charges is a challenge for most of them. In addition, he said the skip bin provided is inadequate and easily gets filled up, leaving room for no choice but to dump the waste generated to the shore or into the sea by the coastal dwellers.
Below is the summary outcome of the meeting when Mr. Raymond Kirwa asked what could be done to prevent the waste from entering the sea, to which Mr. Peter Asiedu responded with mutual consensus with the MEST team and community committee members.
® The installation of a fortified litter trap to withstand the high volume of water pressure from inland through the Korle Lagoon estuary into the sea.
® District Assemblies in the catchment jurisdiction of the Korle Lagoon must redesign drainage can prevent waste from entering the Korle Lagoon.
® National policy for waste segregation law to ensure segregation of waste at source, which will allow Bola taxis and skip bin trucks to have different sacks to separate waste collections from source before disposal at the dump site, which Mrs. Sarah Boasiako commended the Bola taxis persistence in using different sacks for waste such as plastics, paper and cans however she insisted the skip bin trucks need to emulate equally.
® MEST to foster sustainable support for CSOS in coastal management to engage in regular coastal cleaning campaigns.
® The WACA team to provide the periodic report in all designated areas to assess the success of the project.
REPORT BY: PETER ASIEDU
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NURTURE NATURE FOUNDATION.