The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has condemned the destruction of vegetative cover on the Ayi-Mensah Ridge of the Aburi Mountain.
Private developers and real estate agencies have over the years depleted the greenery on the slope of the Ayi-Mensah section of the Aburi Mountain exposing residents down the hill to floods.
Experts have warned of possible landslides in the future if the situation continues unchecked.
Deputy Executive Director of the EPA, Ebenezer Appah-Sampong told Citi News the agency will work with the three Municipal Assemblies responsible for the area and map out a strategy to reverse the trend in four weeks.
“We have enough example of even the Weija area where when it rains, you find a roadblock. Years ago when you drive along that path, the scenery, the beauty and the hills and vegetation were so nice.”
“They just do not exist. They ensured that when there are storms, they held the flow of water in check, and they also add to the microclimate. The place is cool. It is important that we take steps to check these. I think this is an issue we should look at. Give us four weeks, we will initiate the action immediately.”
The Ghana Highway Authority in late October 2019 was forced to close the Accra-bound section of the Peduase-Ayi Mensah road to vehicular traffic after two rockfall incidents on the stretch.
Motorists were subsequently advised to use the Dome-Kitase- Berekusu road as an alternative.
The government initiated road works on sections of that stretch in 2016 to put a steel mesh over the slope to be held by anchor bolts.
The project was estimated at GH¢12 million.
The Peduase Lodge-Ayi Mensah road was constructed along the Aburi hills to connect Accra to the Eastern Region.