Emmanuel Kpeglah
31 October 2008
The three victims buried alive by the recent landslide (Daily Graphic Oct. 8, 2008) in the Akuapem North District of the Eastern region were reburied. They were laid to rest Friday Oct. 25, 2008 amidst tears and heart-rending at Edukrom.
Disasters are very hard to predict. Silently but steadily, they stride every tick of the sec, stalk closer to wreak mayhem. In recent times, Ghana is ravaged by series of disasters ranging from tidal waves, fire, flooding and the hottest, a landslide, a dreaded natural disaster which claimed the lives of three people at a village called Fufute near Adukrom.
"It was about 2:30 pm on Saturday October 4, 2008 when the rain started pouring down in violent flow," an eye witness states. The intense intensity of the rain was maintained for about two hours then a thunderous sound was heard. Kwesi Mantey who dared the danger of the heavy rains was the first to see the speeding boulders descending the hill. "Mondwaneoo !! adie bi baoo!!," which means (run to safety there is danger) he shouted. Unfortunately, the family who were then preparing their evening meal stood in the way of the sliding rocks. Kofi Mantey who sped out of the kitchen, was missed by the descending boulders by a strand of hair to become the only survival. And the huge rocks with a mass of thick brownish mud poured in the kitchen. Doris Asantewaa, 55 was not fast enough when she attempted escape. Aged Yaa Oforiwaa 72, and helpless, 3 year old Kwesi Mantey could not comprehend the situation properly before their mud structure collapsed and the deadly boulders walked over the building burying the three alive in a spark of a moment. There was wailing and mourning the whole of the evening in the exceptionally cold weather as they helplessly crowded around the house of the victims waiting for the coming of the reluctant day.
Goats, roosting fowls, and other domestic animals seeking protection under the eaves of the building were all buried with the victims. The rotten carcasses of these animals reeked as they were mangled by the bulldozer which was hired to retrieve the victims but failed as it developed a serious mechanical fault. This was because the rocks were very big and firmly cemented by the mud. This delayed the retrieval efforts as the operation which started by a joint team of Fire Service and Police personnel in the morning fruitlessly ended at 5:00pm in the evening. The bodies were finally retrieved when the youth of the town resorted to shovels and hoes to exhume the bodies. Their bodies were later deposited at Tetteh-Quarshie Memorial Hospital, Mampong.
About four houses were damaged. The fourteen people whose houses were destroyed were putting up in the Fufute Church of Pentecost Chapel.
Devastated Kofi Mantey, says "the incident is incomprehensible, unbelievable and sad to lose three of my most precious family." Sandra Mantey mother of the Kwesi who was engulfed in confusion says I am tongue tied it is incomprehensible I find it hard to accept too difficult to believe ." Sympathisers and well wishers could understand the depth of her agony. Her survival which could be described as divine was her feverish condition which sent her to the Mampong Hospital at the time of the incident. She could have died too. "I pray to God to bless me with another child," she says in a petitioning mood.
Asked whether they would be ready be relocated or not the surviving victims of the disaster in unison says, "we are more than willing to leave this place immediately for who knows when the boulders descend again." Mr. Aboagye District Chief Executive of the Akuapem North district says, the willingness of the people is a forward looking, promising that the district assembly would do everything within its powers to aid their relocation process.
At Asuneman eight buildings collapsed while the Adukrom Koforidua road was blocked by the boulders that poured on the road. Ernest Boakye whose house was one of those destroyed by the land slide says "it was a terrible moment that nobody expected."
The slides coupled with the intense rainfall dug deep gullies on the Aseneman Kutease road which made it worthless for motorists but the District chief Executive Mr Edward Edu Aboagye said the seven kilometer road would be rehabilitated under the certificate of emergency. He said Bepoase Asuneman road will be reconstructed by the Ghana Highway Authority.
In an interview with the head of the Research Department of the Meteorological Agency Mr. Charles Yorke said three physical things occur during land slide which he identified as the initial slope failure, the subsequent transport and the final deposition of the landslide materials. Mr. Charles Yorke stated that factors that give rise to landslides are the underlying bedrock and soil, the configuration of the slope or the geometry of the slope and the ground water condition of the slope. He said once a landslide is ignited, dangerous materials are transported through sliding, flowing and falling. According to him planes of weakness parallel to hill slope associated with landslide are those that have slope in thick glacial debris, rock slide on slopes parallel to bedding and fracture controlled rock fall.
Other causes he said are elevation of pore water, pore pressure by saturation of slope from either intense or prolonged rainfall or seepage, vibration caused by earthquakes undercutting of cliffs and banks by waves or river erosion and volcanic eruptions.
Human activities which may trigger landslide are removal of vegetation through uncontrolled cutting down of trees, interference with or changes to natural drainage, leaking pipes such as water and sewer reticulation and modification of slopes by construction of roads, railways, buildings etc. Other causes are overloading slopes, mining and quarrying vibration from heavy traffic and displacement of rocks.
Mr. Edu said the district Assembly in a joint effort with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) would aid the victims with food items such as rice cooking oil and other items including plates cups clothing mats and other basic utilities to temporary enhance their lives.
He said the assembly would go into a rigorous education of the people around on the best practice in farming, tree cutting and construction of their structures to avoid human errors that could cause landslide. The incident was reported to the Geological Survey Department and their recommendations he said "will be carried out appropriately to avert future catastrophe."
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