Mr Degue said tidal waves have caused the community to lose an estimated 300 to 400 metres of land along the shoreline and therefore called for a more comprehensive approach to safeguarding lives, livelihoods, and ancestral lands.

He made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), calling on the government to adopt more sustainable and scientific methods in the fight against coastal erosion and proposing the dredging of the sea to identify areas of sediment deposits under the ocean.

He explained that the sand could be used to refill and restore the eroded coastlines, referencing similar efforts undertaken successfully in countries like Togo and Benin, where coastal protection measures have improved beach nourishment.

“Their desires, the longings and wishes, are that they reclaim their central lands for them, the lands that their ancestors were on over 400 years ago. If the government could do them a favour and dredge the sea, identify where sediment deposits are under the sea, and get the dredger to lump the sand and refill the cost, they’ll be ever grateful that the government has been able to get their ancestral land back to them,” he stated.

He further said, “That is their highest desire, rather than laying rocks on the coast now, which used to be their communities. That is not the seacoast; they are calling for the best global practices as were done in Togo, Benin, and other places where they reclaimed land from the sea. That is what the community people are telling some of us who have been in civil society and championing coastal protection.”

Mr Degue said many tidal wave victims were still sleeping by the roadside, while others were cooking in the open, some living in temporary structures built with palm fronds, and a few managing to take blocks from their damaged homes to rebuild makeshift shelters and cover them with black polythene bags.

He noted that while the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) was providing food and some relief items, the situation required a more coordinated and intensified response, therefore making a passionate appeal to the government to build safe havens in disaster-prone areas.

He emphasised that these facilities must be well-planned, secure, and conducive for habitation, particularly during emergencies such as tidal waves and floods, saying that these should have proper sanitation, access to water, and space for families to live with dignity.

Mr Degue commended Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, the Minister of Works and Housing, for his commitment to relocate affected persons as part of the ongoing coastal defence efforts, stressing, however, that evacuation alone was not a complete solution and called for a long-term strategy to ensure the sustainability of coastal communities.

He said after the construction of Blekusu Phase One (a coastal defence project), economic activities of the fishermen declined as they found it difficult to cast their nets due to the groyne and pleaded that phase two should be done in a way that would help boost economic activities of the people.

The Blekusu Phase Two coastal defence project, which began recently, aims to extend sea defence infrastructure along the Volta Region’s eastern coastline. The first phase, completed a few years ago, offered some level of protection but was not sufficient to shield all communities from the rising threats of sea-level rise and storm surges.