The ongoing sea defence project in the area Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality is being constructed by some NGOs and not by the government.
The Elmina sea defence project is part of the phase III of the construction of the Takoradi/Elmina emergency sea protection project by the Government of Ghana under the Ministry of Works and Housing.
Full Text
The Omanhen of Elmina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah VI said that a vast majority of the people in Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) doubt that the ongoing sea defence project in the area is being constructed by the government but believe that some NGOs are sponsoring the project.
The chief made the claim when President Akufo-Addo cut the sod to commence the construction of Elmina fishing port rehabilitation and expansion project at Elmina in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality on Thursday August 20, 2020.
“There are a lot going around in our Municipality. I am happy that the chief of Komenda, Nana Kodwo Kru II, is here. The truth is that, people are claiming that the sea defence which is being constructed along the coast of Komenda through to Elmina is the initiative of some NGOs and not the government”, the chief said and pleaded with the Works and Housing Ministry to clear the air on the issue. When contacted via telephone, the chief was not able to name any NGO but insisted that the situation was so in Komenda.
The chief’s claim came a few days after Vice President Bawumia had mentioned on page 45 of his presentation of the Government’s infrastructure development on Tuesday August 18, 2020 that the Elmina sea project was constructed during the first term of the NPP government.
Verification
Upon further research, Dubawa discovered that the Elmina sea defence project is captured in page 88 of the 2020 NPP’s manifesto as part of an ongoing sea protection project being undertaken by the current government together with the ones in Axim, Amanful Kumah, Kommenda, Cape Coast, and Anomabu.
The same project is also captured in page nine of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for (2018 -2021) of the Ministry of Works and Housing.
It is stated in the MTEF that “Works are currently ongoing on the New Takoradi/Elmina, Adjoa, Blekusu and Dansoman whose current statuses of implementation are 40%, 65%, 45% and 45% respectively.”
We visited the project site and saw signage detailing the nature of the project, location, clients, consultants, and the name of the contractor.
According to the inscriptions on the signage, the Elmina sea defence is part of the phase III of the construction of the Takoradi/Elmina emergency sea protection project. It is being constructed by Vuluxx Company Limited, a fully-owned Ghanaian company with the Hydrological Services Department as the consultants.
While responding to the chief’s claim, the Minister for Works and Housing, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, emphasised that the Government of Ghana was financing the construction of the sea defence in the area. He said the project was a five kilometer stretch with a construct sum of $70 million. He added that the project was about 50 percent complete.
“This is a project we awarded to Vuluxx Company Limited. It is a five kilometer stretch which is ongoing. For now, the contractor has done 50 percent of the work. The contract sum is 70 million dollars. So before we started this project (Elmina fishing port), the President had already cut sod for this coastal protection project currently ongoing. So let us not be deceived,” he said.
Also, outlining some major projects his ministry has implemented as part of the Coastal Protection Project aimed at protecting the beaches and environs at a media briefing in Accra on Wednesday June 24, 2020, Mr Atta Akyea mentioned the Elmina sea defence project.
Conclusion
In the process of our verification, we did not come across anything that suggested that the Elmina sea defence project was being financed by some NGOs. The chief himself was not able to name any NGO. Therefore, the claim by the people of KEEA that the sea defence project currently under construction in their area was being financed by some NGOs and not by the government of Ghana is false.
The reporter produced this fact-check under the auspices of the Dubawa 2020 Fellowship to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and to enhance media literacy in the country.
