Residents of Tetrefu in the Bosomtwe district of Ashanti have decried the havoc being caused to the community and their houses in particular by erosion.
A visit by GBC’s Garden City Radio showed that many of the houses risk collapsing due to the damage caused by soil erosion as a result of the lack of proper settlement planning.
Years of inaction by the people and their leaders have led to the collapse of some of the houses with many others almost hanging since their foundations have been washed away by rain water runoff.
The streets and the main road of the community are also fast deteriorating as deep gullies have developed along the shoulders and in some cases, deep ditches created creating death traps for especially children and the aged.
Workers were seen either pulling down some of the weakened sandcrite houses or rebuilding to avoid some from collapsing on people with others re-building destroyed properties.
One of the landlords whose house is virtually hanging after its foundation has been badly exposed by the erosion, Maxwell Oduro, expressed fear that should the rains continue to fall, the six-bedroom house could totally collapse. He said however, that he has no funds for a comprehensive renovation.
Another landlord, Yaw Badu, whose house was being pulled down by workers at the time of the visit, said he and the tenants have relocated to safety to avoid the looming danger posed by the structure.
The Assemblyman for Tetrefu-Homabenase, Sampson Kwakye, acknowledge the seriousness of the havoc wreaked by erosion to the town and said the Bosomtwe District Assembly has already been informed about the situation to assist in finding a lasting solution to stop further destruction to the road and houses.
A Civil Engineer, Richard Nsiah, attributed the problem to improper settlement planning of the town as well as the lack of drainage systems to direct water runoff from homes.
Mr. Nsiah suggested that storm drains and side tunnels be constructed along the main road and streets of the town to properly channel the erosion while the houses affected could be renovated using the appropriate building materials to fortify them against erosion.
