Your Excellency,
With hearts full of gratitude and hope, we, the people of the Anlo Coast – encompassing Agavedzi, Salakope, Amutsinu, Adina, and surrounding communities – extend our deepest appreciation to you for awarding the Blekusu Phase 2 Sea Defence Project to Amandi Construction Ltd.
Your Excellency, your decision to move forward with this crucial project is not just a policy action; it is a response to the cries of countless families who have watched their homes, farms, schools, churches, ancestral lands, and livelihoods swallowed by the relentless sea over decades. You have heard our pleas, felt our pain, and responded with decisive leadership. For that, Mr. President, we thank you profoundly. You have made history.
As we warmly welcome you to our beloved communities for the official sod-cutting ceremony, we see your visit not just as a formality, but as a symbol of hope and restoration. Your presence signals to all Ghanaians that the long-neglected Anlo Coast – the Southern Volta shoreline – will no longer be left behind.
Yet, Your Excellency, we are compelled to make a heartfelt appeal.
The sea has already taken too much of our land. Our coastline continues to shrink unabated. Entire communities have been pushed inland. While previous interventions – including the Keta Sea Defence Project, the Dzita Coastal Protection Works, and the Blekusu Phase1 Coastal Protection Works – offered relief, they did not reclaim the lost land. The only gains have come through sediment deposits and, in Keta’s case, the small land reclaimed from the lagoon side rather than the open sea, which could have been a better option.
Mr. President, global best practices in coastal protection have evolved over the decades. In countries like the Netherlands, the United States, and even recently in parts of West Africa like Togo and Benin, projects now combine hard engineering with soft one and some nature-based interventions. We are, therefore, humbly requesting that the Blekusu Phase 2 Project be expanded beyond traditional conventional groynes, break-waters and revetments to include:
Sea dredging to harvest sand from deeper marine beds and sediment depositions, Beach nourishment to widen and restore our eroded and lost beaches, Sand dune/sand engines formation to serve as natural buffers, Dredging and land reclamation from the lagoon to prevent perennial flooding, Nature-based solutions such as mangrove reforestation, wetland restoration, coconut replantation, and planting of other beach-loving vegetation, etc.
Such integrated approaches will not only defend the coast but also reclaim what has been taken, ensuring long-term resilience for future generations.
Additionally, Your Excellency, we earnestly appeal that socio-economic and livelihood components be fully integrated into the project design and appraisal. The communities along this coast have suffered loss upon loss over the last decades – of land, livelihoods, homes, fishing gear, markets, and social infrastructure. Let this project include social support interventions for alternative livelihoods, youth skills training, women’s economic empowerment, small business support, resettlement of affected persons, etc. so that the affected people can not only survive, but thrive as well. This is what will rebuild resilience in these communities once the project is completed.
Mr. President, your bold decision to address the suffering of these coastal communities has not gone unnoticed. You have etched your name into the history of the Anlo Coast. We believe that with your continued support, this project will stand as a legacy of compassionate and visionary leadership.
On behalf of the people of Agavedzi, Salakope, Amutsinu, Adina, and all who live along the battered Anlo coastline – our ancestral lands, we say again, thank you for your listening ear, for your caring heart, and for your unwavering commitment to protecting Ghanaian lives, livelihoods and land.
May the Blekusu Phase 2 Sea Defence Project be the dawn of a new era of restoration, resilience, and renewal of an almost lost hope.
I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday and shaking your hands.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely,
Joel Kofi Degue
Environmental Activist and Climate Justice advocate
On behalf of the Chiefs, Elders, Youth and People of the Anlo Coast
Southern Volta Region
+233242501638/ [email protected]
