More attention needs to be given to science in the management of Ghana’s coastline, a researcher from the University of Cape Coast’s Center for Coastal Management, Dr. Donatus Angnuureng, has urged.

Amid the impact of coastal erosion and tidal wave flooding in the Volta Region, Dr. Angnuureng said monitoring and forecasting will better protect vulnerable residents.

While there is information on the erosion rate, he noted that “we don’t have data on water levels for that particular area.”

“We need to have long-term information about the areas, so we can develop what they call an early warning system,” Dr. Angnuureng added while speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM/TV.

“If we know the magnitude of the situation, then we can start preparing for the situation or the hazard.”

Ghana has an average erosion rate of about two meters a year, though some areas see up to 17 meters of erosion annually.

But more detailed figures are hard to come by hence Dr. Angnuureng’s call for more support for regular monitoring.

“If we were doing regular monitoring from the time of our great-grandfathers, I don’t, think we would have been in this situation.”

“In the next 100 years, our grandchildren or our children will also be saying the same thing,” he added.

Dr. Angnuureng was speaking after hundreds of residents in the Anlo district, Keta, and Ketu South Municipalities were displaced by flooding from tidal waves.