Imminent Mudslide Along Accra-Weija Road — Building Consultant Predicts

A road and building consultant, Ing. Abdulai Mahama is predicting a mudslide along a portion of the Accra-Weija road.

The development he says will affect buildings and vehicular movement.

According to him, the continuous downpour recently washed away parts of the weathered rock along the stretch onto the road.

This caution follows the flooding situation coupled with heaps of silt deposited on the road at SCC on the Accra-Weija stretch over the weekend.

Ing. Mahama in a Citi News interview called on authorities to act immediately to prevent a disaster in the near future.

“We may still see silt coming down to a height that may be possibly more than a meter. And with a meter silt deposition across the road, no vehicle can go and that will take a longer time for movement of vehicles to be restored. Some vehicles may see the movement of those mudslides immediately as it starts but those houses that are very close cannot move, and they will be at the mercy of the mudslide,” he said.

This is not the first time residents have been warned of the imminent disaster, as the land on which they have built their homes, has been described as a mudslide area.

Locals continue to put up houses there even though it has been declared a danger zone.

Residents have encroached on the land close to the ridge, which is gradually being washed away anytime it rains.

The rocks fall off, and the land turns into a valley after every downpour.

Before 2014, the area was notorious for its illegal stone mining activities, until the national security stepped in.

However, the situation has worsened over the years, and the land has been taken over by encroachers, who seem oblivious of the fact that they are living under potentially disastrous conditions.

The deep valley created by the erosion has been turned into a dumping site. The vegetation, which would've protected the land from being exposed to the rain when there's a downpour has all been cut down for charcoal.

The situation doesn't only affect the residents but persons whose source of drinking water is the Weija Dam.

The sand and garbage descend onto the road and eventually into the dam.

The Assembly also appears to have hit a snag in dealing with the encroachers. They are unable to demolish the structures even though most of them do not have permits.

Director of Inter-sectorial Network Division at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Engineer Ransford Sakyi, has suggested the creation of a buffer zone around the ridge to avert the looming disaster.

---citinewsroom