The Central Regional Security Council has declared war on sand winners at Gomoa Fetteh in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region to avert a catastrophe, waiting to explode along the coastal stretch of the district.
Many coastal settlements in the area are likely to be plunged into an impending disaster due to illegal sand winning activities which have eroded the buffer and sand dunes along the coast of Gomoa Fetteh.
Like the illegal gold mining menace, the onslaught by the sand winners has completely devastated the coast, reducing most part of the surrounding highland to sea level.
What is left of the sand dunes which serve as a natural sea defence is a thin wall of sand precariously standing between the sea and the communities, leaving thousands of lives and property at the mercy of the ocean.
In the event of a high tidal wave, several communities, including Gomoa Yesukrom, Millennium City, Nyanyano, Buduburam and Tuba would be completely submerged, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
To avert the imminent catastrophe, the Central Regional Security Council, led by Mr Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, the Regional Minister, and the Director of Special Operations of the National Security Secretariat, Mr Richard Japka, on Wednesday led a team of security heads including Police, Fire Service and the NADMO to assess the extent of destruction and strategise to halt the menace.
When the team arrived at the scene, the sand winners had long deserted the place, only leaving imprints of their destruction over the past five years.
Mr Eduamoah, expressed disquiet over the development, indicating that it was as dangerous and destructive as galamsey because the environmental and economic consequences were equally daunting.
The menace, he cautioned, could sweep many communities away by the sea in five months, if it were allowed to continue.
He gave a firm assurance that the Central Regional Security Council and the National Security Secretariat were working closely together to clamp down on the illegality.
“We are having so much concentration on galamsey but it is unfortunate that just behind us, people are destroying the sea defence.
“We got the report about two weeks ago and I promise that together with National Security, we are going to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book,” he said.
The Regional Minister described the situation as a security matter that needed urgent action to forestall its consequences which could be unbearable.
“I promise that very soon, an action will be taken to deter others from continuing to perpetrate this heinous crime,” he said, without disclosing what would be done.
Mr Eduamoah charged all citizens and the media to join the fight against all forms of environmental destruction as a matter of urgency.
“The concentration on political issues is becoming too much in the media. Let’s go down to take care of developmental issues where those of us who have been given the authority to function are brought to book if we are not functioning” he said.
Mr Patrick Winibood Ndego, leader of Eagle Eyesight, a pressure group fighting corruption and illegality, thanked the Minister and the National Security for showing commitment to ending the destruction.
He said consistent attempts to get political and traditional authorities to act on the menace over the years had failed, accusing the police and the traditional authority at Gomoa Fetteh of complicity.
He called for the dissolution of the Central East Regional Police Command for allegedly abetting the criminal act.
Mr Ndego complained: “I have reported a series of cases to the police under this command, but no actions were taken until I reported the matter to the national headquarters.”
He expressed his readiness to provide every evidence that might be required in the investigation to bring perpetrators to book.
Mr Kwesi Dawood, the Central Regional Director of NADMO, described the destruction as a national security threat, and pledged his organisation’s readiness to act proactively.
“In this age of climate change and tidal waves, you still find heavy trucks at the Senya Beach and other places every weekend carting the sand away.
“We cannot sit aloof for the whole nation to go through an avoidable disaster like this because of the short-term economic interest of a few people,” he added.
GNA
